LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




S. C. JOHNSON, Sr. 



THE 



CONSISTENCY AND HARMONY 



ELECTION, PREDESTINATION 



ACCOUNTABILITY OF MAN. 



Elect Consists of 144,000— Elected for Three Purposes: 

1. To Secure Positively a People to Christ and to Compliment Abraham. 

2. To Keep Christ Before the People. 

3. To be Co-Laborers with Christ in Saving the Non-Elect. 



LABORS AND SUFFERINGS OF ELECT. 

Sketch of the Twelve Apostles — All Martyred Save One — The Tree of Life — Christ 

a Complete Savior — Death that Adam Died in the Garden — Court 

in the Garden of Eden — Nigh Cut to Heaven. 



God Loving Jacob and Hating Esau Clearly Explained — Salvation Hinges Upon Faith. 

All Saved by Grace — Whole Plan of Salvation Illustrated and Clearly 

Explained — Lovely Character of God. 



BY S. C. JOHNSON, SR., 

Burke, Texas. 


V r rif 



1894. 

Texas Baptist Standard Printing House 

waco. texas. 



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t- 



<A 



COPYRIGHT BY 

S. C. JOHNSON, SR V 

Burkk, Texas. 

1894. 



The Library 
of Congress 

washington 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

PREFACE. — Author's Birth, Conversion, etc. Division of the Bap- 
tists. Author perplexed over Election, and searches earnestly for 
Truth. Wonderful discovery upon hearing- read "Added to the Lord." 
Friends solicit the writing- of this book 3-6 

INTRODUCTION.— Knowledge of God necessary to understand His 
doctrine. Creation. God takes in a partner. Man an iniag-e of God, etc. 7-10 

THE COVENANT.— Argument between God and the Word. Eden. 
Death that Adam died in Eden. Court in the Garden. When was the 
Covenant made? God shows to Christ Abraham, and his Descendants, 
Prospectively. Lamb's Book of Life Tendered. Names of Elect Reg- 
istered 11-17 

CHOSEN MEN. — Chosen men necessary to act as leaders, priests, 
prophets, apostles, etc. These were elected promiscuously out 
of the twelve tribes of Israel, and constitute a part of one hundred and 
forty-four thousand elect. Was Abraham saved by the law? Isaac a 
type of Christ. Casting away of God's people disputed. Blindness in 
part happened to Israel. Christ God's elect seed. Israel sought sal- 
vation by works of the law 17-24 

JOHN'S VIEW WHILE ON PATMOS '. 24-26 

RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN.— Rev. 14:9. Many saved besides 
elect. Second fruits. Salvation offered to all. Abraham's lamenta- 
tion. Christ described 26-32 

SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT, IN WHICH WE CATCH A 
GLIMPSE OF THE PURPOSE OF ELECTION,— Moses and Aaron 33-34 

Prophets 34-35 

Apostles 35-36 

Exegesis of Mark 16:16 36-38 

SKETCH OF THE LIVES OF THE APOSTLES.— Peter 38-40 

Paul 40-41 

Andrew 41-43 

James, the greater 43-44 

John, the Evangelist 44-45 

Philip 45 

Bartholomew 46 

Matthew 46 

Thomas 46 

James , the less 47 

Simon, the Zealot 49 

Jude 49 

PURPOSES OF ELECTION.— Purposes of election. Humorous il- 
lustration. Free salvation. Flowery beds of ease. Metaphorical 



CONTENTS.— Continued. 

washing-. Depravity of man. Mercy of Christ and efficacy of His 
blood. Nig-h cut to heaven. Regeneration 49-62 

TEXT.— "Behold I stand at the door and knock," etc. Substanti- 
ating the doctrine of the responsibility of man. Christ calls for every 
man. Devil's exhibition. Dialogue between Christ and man. The 
devil calls upon man again. An exhortation 62-78 

An interesting allegory, designed to set forth in a simple and clear 
light the whole plan of salvation 78-103 

Application of this allegory 103-108 

JACOB AND ESAU.— Jacob and Esau 109-111 

Contrast Bible and Nicolaitan doctrine, Acts xiii:48. How are the elect 
saved? Pharoah the added. Two classes of Christians addressed in 
Eph. 1. God's dealings with man. Eovely character of God 111-127 



Note. — By an oversight of the proof reader the heading-, 
"Sufferings of the Elect" extends from pag-e 32 to pag-e 127. By 
following- the table of contents carefully, however, the various 
sub-divisions of the book can be readily found. 



ERRATA. 



On pag-e 112, line 17 from the bottom, the word "man" 
should be used instead of "God." 

On pag-e 19, line 19, read "God" instead of "Gad." 
On pag-e 4 in Preface, 7 lines from the bottom, "swayed" is 
used instead of "swag-g-ed." 

On pag-e 61, 17 lines from top, "bring-" is used for "buy." 
On pag-e 65, 16 lines from the top, "loose" is used for "bowie." 
On pag-e 82, 23 lines from top, "crushed" is used for "cursed." 
On pag-e 108, 23 lines from bottom, "1894" is used for "1849." 
On pag-e 126, 6 lines from the bottom, "one" is omitted be- 
tween "know" and "else." 



PREFACE. 

THE author of this book was born A. D., 1821, November 
10, and professed Christ in his eighteenth year. This same 
year, 1839, there was a division among- the Baptists ; some 
were known as Missionary Baptists, and the others as Anti-Mis- 
sionary Baptists. The latter preached a limited atonement; that 
no provisions were made for saving- any but God's elect; that 
none would be saved except the few that God g-ave Christ in the 
covenant of redemption before the foundation of the world ; that 
God raised up everyone to be just what he was ; that He marked 
out everyone's course; that He marked out the tracks in which 
everyone should walk; that He put every word in everyone's 
heart and mouth that he or she should speak; and that God or- 
dained in the beginning just what everyone should do and be; if 
he were cross-eyed, knock-kneed, bow-leg-g-ed, hump-shouldered, 
or tongue-tied, that God foreordained that it should be so from 
before the foundation of the world, and that if any of God's pre- 
cious elect were among- the heathen nations, God would find and 
save them; that not one of them would be lost. Hence, for men 
to talk about sending- the Gospel to the heathen was to take the 
children's bread and cast it to the dog-s. That men were get- 
ting - too smart in these latter days, g-etting- up new-fang-led no- 
tions, trying- to save souls, attempting- to take God's work out of 
His hands, and to rule God to their taste. That instead of wait- 
ing- for God to save His people (who were already saved), by His 
own sovereign grace, in His own good time, they were substitut- 
ing Sunday Schools, Temperance Societies, Tract Societies and 
Missionary Societies to help God save souls, as if God were 
fatigued with so much work and wanted to rest, and to take a 
little sleep to recuperate his strength, and was calling upon man 
to take hold and work awhile in saving souls with their 
Sunday Schools, Temperance Societies, Tract Societies and 
Missionary Societies, until He recovered His health and 
strength again. The dear old brethren felt in their hearts 
that these were worldly institutions and grand innova- 
tions upon the Church. Therefore, they declared non- 
fellowship for all Missionary Societies, Sunday Schools, 
Temperance Societies, Tract Societies, Bible Societies, 
Free Masons, Odd Fellows, and all other societies of men. God 
bless the old brethren! If I had believed like they did, I should 
have been with them. But the Missionaries preached a general 
atonement; that Salvation was offered without money and with- 
out price, to everyone that would accept it, through Christ, and 
render all the glory of their Salvation to the Redeemer. That 
the Gospel was the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that 
believed, and that it was God's plan to save men through the 



4 PREFACE. 

Gospel, by the instrumentality of human agencies; and that 
God called upon everybod}^ everywhere to come unto Him and be 
saved; and that every member of Adam's posterity had the priv- 
ilege of coming - to Him and being- saved forever, or refusing- and 
being- lost eternally; and that God required His people to work 
for the Salvation of souls. I loved the Missionary preaching; I 
believed it was the truth, hence joined the Church of Christ, 
called the Missionary Baptist Church. And I had many hick- 
hack controversies with the Anti-Missionaries, and when they 
began to quote from Paul, whom he foreknew he predestinated 
to be conformed to the image of His Son, and whom He predesti- 
nated, He called, and whom He called, He justified, and whom 
He justified He glorified. "According as He hath chosen us 
in Him before the foundation of the world," etc., it puzzled me. 
I was satisfied that it was all right, but I could not understand 
it. I was not able to see the consistency and harmony of that 
doctrine and the Gospel plan of Salvation. I read, I studied, I 
compared Scripture with Scripture, prayed fervently to God to 
give me light on the subject. I saw that election, predestination 
and fore-ordination were plainly, and undeniably, taught in the 
Scriptures; and I saw the free moral agency of man and his ac- 
countability to God, equally as plainly taught. 

The seeming contradictions of these doctrines so puzzled my 
uncultivated mind that I was almost persuaded that they clashed; 
but that was repulsive to my convictions, and contrary to my 
faith; for as far back as I can remember I loved the Bible and 
reverenced it as the Word of God, and believed it to be the truth. 
And I think so yet; but I think the translators (though they were 
fine scholars and honest men), made some slight mistakes in 
placing some words, and even verses some times, in their proper 
places. But I have never been so impious as to believe that 
God's Book contradicted itself. In those days I heard some smart 
men preach on the subject, and was invariably left without 
light; or, as Spurgeon better expresses it, they waded deeper 
and deeper until they reached mud, and stirred up the sediments 
from the bottom, and got themselves in a muddle, and never 
failed to leave their congregations in a muddle. The sainted 
brother, Jesse Hartwell, D. D., Professor of Theology in Howard 
College and Theological Seminary, in the years of 1844-'45 and 
'46, gave the best illustrations of the doctrines now under con- 
sideration, that I heard at all in those days. He said that it was 
like a chain stretched across a river. You could see both ends of 
the chain, but it had swayed and the connecting link was under 
the water and mortal eye could not behold it, but that we were 
perfect^ satisfied that there was a link beneath the water that 
united the two ends together, and made one chain. We read 
one portion of God's Word and we find election, eternal, definite, 
unconditional election, predestination and foreordination clearly 
and undeniably taught; and we read another portion of God's 



PREFACE. 5 

Book and we find a complete atonement made for even- man, 
and that every rational descendant of Adam is a free moral 
agent, to think, to act, to choose and decide for himself. That 
Salvation is offered to everyone, and everyone can accept the 
free gift of God and be everlastingly happy, or reject the gra- 
cious offer and be tormented forever. These are Bible truths, 
but the connecting- links have swagged beneath the water, and 
beyond the comprehension of finite minds. I liked this illustra- 
tion of the dear old brother and father in the Gospel, better than 
any I had heard up to that time. I loved Brother Jesse Hart- 
well, for he was one of the purest men and most consecrated 
Christians I ever knew; but I was not entirely satisfied with the 
illustration. I went on reading-, meditating- and praying- for 
lig-ht on the subject about thirty years more. Then I heard read 
the following- words, from the New Testament: "Added to the 
Lord." I had read that Scripture often, but it made a different 
impression upon me then to what it had before; it seemed to 
have a meaning as never before. There seemed to be a halo of 
light thrown over it that came from the throne of the God of 
Light. My impressions were, thank God! He has at last heard 
my prayers, and now I see, I see it! God did elect, choose, pre- 
destinate and foreordain a certain people, for certain purposes, 
and gave them to Christ, and had their names registered in the 
Lamb's Book of Life; and that all who believed, in time were 
added. Glory to God and the Lamb forever! Yes, and their 
names added to the Lamb's Book of Life. I obtained this in 
1870, and I have found nothing in the Bible conflicting with 
this theory, but much to sustain it; and, believing it to be the 
true theory, I have been presenting it to the public, from the 
pulpit, twenty-two years, and have not met with opposition to 
amount to much. Many good ministering brethren have said, 
after hearing me preach on the subject, that they always knew 
that it was somehow that way, but that they could never get it 
linked up like I had it. I have had brethren from different states 
solicit me to write a book on the subject, and at the Ministers' 
Institute, in Nacogdoches, in October, 1891, a number of good 
ministering brethren earnestly repeated this request, when I 
consented. 

Before writing a word I bowed in secret before the God of all 
truth, and prayed to Him earnestly to enable me to write the 
truth, and nothing but the truth, irrespective of the creeds or 
dogmas of fallible men. I have not gone to the Pope of Rome, 
nor to any of his priests, nor to Martin Luther, nor John Calvin, 
nor to John Wesley, nor to Alexander Campbell, to get my views 
or to prove my positions, but I have gone to the inspired Word 
of God to establish my line of thought. I have pursued this 
course from my conviction that what man does is marked with 
fallibility, but what God does is marked with infallibility. Now, 
if I shall be able to give rest and satisfaction to the minds of the 



6 PREFACE. 

thousands of brethren, who have been perplexed as I have over 
election and accountability of man, and also be able to defend 
the pure and lovely character of God ag-ainst the foul assaults 
made ag-ainst Him by the Nicolaitans, the author will be amply 
rewarded for his labor. 

S. C. JOHNSON, Sr., 

Burke, Texas. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

IN order to set forth the consistency and harmony of God's elec- 
tion, predestination and foreordination, and the accountability 

of man in a truthful and clear light, it is essential that we 
have in our hearts and minds the love and fear of the Great I 
Am; that I Am, the great first cause, the great invisible Je- 
hovah, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God of Love 
and Holiness; the great Creator and Organizer of the universe, 
and the Maker of our progenitors, in whose bodies the seeds 
were imbedded that have brought forth the teeming- millions of 
people that now inhabit this globe. Also a knowledge of His 
character, attributes and works and dealing's with men in all 
ages. 

The first historical knowledg-e that we have of this Great Cre- 
ator of all thing-s is found in the Mosaic account of the creation, 
which account some infidel scientists have said was not true. 
But Dr. Morris, an expert in science and Scripture, has satisfac- 
torily refuted their arg-uments. The infidel arg-ues that Moses 
dates the creation of the Heaven and earth back only about six 
thousand years, and that they can prove conclusively from the 
different strata of rock, and the leng-th of time required for each 
strata to form, etc., that the earth was many more thousands of 
years in its formation. Dr. Morris, in his "Work Days of God," 
quotes Genesis 1:1,2: "In the beginning- God created the Heaven 
and the earth; and the earth was without form, and void, and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters." This quotation is a com- 
plete and finished statement of the beginning". And as to when, 
or how, far back, the beginning was, we are not informed by 
profane nor sacred history. But it is evident, from the different 
strata of the earth, that it was long anterior to the commence- 
ment of the six days' work. It may have been thousands or 
millions, or even billions of years. It is taught by some scientists 
that in the beginning God poured forth, into the great open 
space, the vapory particles of which the Heaven and the earth 
were formed, in a greatly extended element of heated vapor; and 
it commenced revolving and continued to revolve until it formed 
a great, round ball. And that then it commenced cooling and 
collecting its particles, on the outside, until it had cooled to a 
sufficient depth for the earth to bring forth vegetation. And 
then, and not until then, God commenced his six days' work. 
And when Moses commenced giving an account of God's first 
day's work, which is in Genesis 3:1, he used a set phrase, which 
he used every morning in the commencement of his day's work, 
to-wit: "And God said let." This makes it clear that the ac- 



8 INTRODUCTORY. 

count of God's six days' work commenced with Gen. 1:3. As we 
read and meditate upon this first chapter of Genesis, we are pro- 
foundly impressed with the wisdom and goodness of God. The 
first great essential to a world like this is light, and when the 
Alwise Creator commenced his first day's work He said, "Let 
there be light ;" and then He divided the light from the darkness; 
then He made a firmament in the midst of the waters, and divided 
the waters and let the dry land appear; then he caused the earth 
to bring forth grass, the herbs yielding seed, and the fruit trees 
yielding fruit after his kind; then He prepared lights in the Heav- 
ens to divide the day from the night, and for seasons, and signs. 
Then, after He had provided sustenance for living fishes, fowls 
and animals, He created them, or caused the water and earth to 
bring them forth. When we read over, and meditate upon, these 
sublime and magnificent works of the Almighty, our hearts re- 
bound and flutter, and we are constrained to exclaim: Great and 
marvelous are the works of the Allwise God, who made all these 
things! Up to this time, which was in the afternoon of the sixth 
day's work, we have no evidence that God called for any help from 
anyone in Heaven, on earth or under the earth; neither did He ask 
for wisdom, or power. He needed it not; for He only had to com- 
mand, and the work was done. But the part already created was 
earthly, of the earth, the air and the water, and were adapted to 
the purposes of the earth, and will pass down with the earth. But 
now a grander, a nobler being is to be created. A compound 
creature. He is to have not only animal life, like the animals 
already made, but he is to have a soul that is to love God and live 
happy with Him forever, or to hate God, and be wretched forever. 
And God said let tis make man. He now takes in a partner, to 
hold a council in reference to making this grandest of all the 
creations of God. Who was this partner then called upon? It was 
not an angel, for no angel is equal with God. I heard a vener- 
able looking old gentleman say that he believed that that part- 
ner was the devil. That God and the devil made an agreement 
that they would make man, and a woman, and that they should 
multiply abundantly and people the whole earth; and they 
should both have access to all the people and all that God could 
prevail on to love and honor him he should have, and all the 
devil could influence to serve him he should have. And the 
devil being the most subtile of all the beasts on earth, got the 
advantage of God, and was getting the largest portion of the 
people. This theory of the dear old man seems rather plausi- 
ble, to a superficial reader. But my motto is not to accept the 
opinions of any uninspired man in the production of this book, 
but to adhere rigidly to the inspired writers, therefore we will 
appeal to St. John. Hear him: "In the beginning, was the 
Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the 
same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by 
Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." 



IN TR OD UCTOR V. 9 

John 1:1-2-3. This quotation from John makes it clear that 
the Word was the partner that God called upon to take a part 
in making- man; and that the Word was in the beginning with 
(rod, and that all things were made by Him. Yet, He was not 
alluded to in Genesis until everything- else but man was made. 
The Heaven, the earth, the fishes, the fowls, the animals and 
the lig-hts, were all made and arranged. There was no one 
found qualified to take charg-e of all that had been made. And 
God said to the Word, Let us make man. The question is, how 
can we make such a wonderful being-? The answer is, In our 
image, and after our likeness. It has been taug-ht that it was 
after the moral image, and after the moral likeness. But God 
never said it; neither do I. For if it had been in the moral 
imag-e, and after the moral likeness of God, Eve would not have 
believed the devil instead of God; neither would Adam have 
stooped to the weakness of his wife and swerved from his integ- 
rity in partaking- of the forbidden fruit; but, to the contrary, 
would have said, as did the Word: Get thee behind me, Satan, 
for we will worship the Lord our God, and Him only will we 
serve. Everything- beg-ets its likeness, and the Father beg-atthe 
Son, who is declared to be the express imag-e of His person. 
Then the Word was in the imag-e of and after the likeness of the 
person of God. Some may contend that it was in the spiritual 
imag-e and likeness of God that man was made; but I think dif- 
ferently, for after God and the Word had made man after their 
imag-e and likeness, man then presented the appearance of a 
God, with a head, arms, hands, breast, back, hips, thig-hs, legs 
and feet. And after this appearance God breathed into his nos- 
trils the breath of life, and he became a living- soul. Then man 
was made corporeally in the image, and after the likeness, of 
God and the Word; and afterwards God breathed into his nostrils 
the breath of life and then, and not until then, he became a liv- 
ing soul. 

God created all living creatures, save man, by the word of his 
power without calling for anything to make them out of. He 
only spoke the words and it was done! God endowed them with 
instinct sufficient for their purposes. But when they went to 
make man God caused it to rain and moisten the earth; and formed 
man of the dust of the ground. And inasmuch as he was to be 
the crowning stone, the topmost stone, of all that had been made, 
the great manager and governor of all things that God had 
created, he must be endowed with wisdom to enable him to con- 
trol all the former creations of God. Then they endowed man 
with reason, memory, imagination, conscience, etc., and with the 
power of volition also. The most exalted and magnificent of all 
the creations of God is man. God made him just as near like 
himself as it was possible for him to do without making him a 
God. He was not only made upright in moral character, but 
was made to stand upright on his two feet, and to walk like God, 



10 IN TROD UCTOR Y. 

not like a hog", cow or horse that walks on four feet. Man was 
made with two feet upon which to stand erect like God, to walk 
and to run in a graceful manner like God. Man is endowed 
with a tongue like God's, with which to talk to God and men. 
Man can discourse for hours with God and men in an intelli- 
gent way, conveying the thoughts of his mind, and impressions 
of his heart to God and men, by the power of his voice, through 
the instrumentality of his tongue. 

Man is endowed with musical power, so that he can by the 
powers of music, allay the rage of the most ferocious beast of 
earth, and soften the pains of suffering man, and encourage and 
stimulate the faithful Christian, as he is pressing- forward to 
the mark of his high calling- as it is in Christ Jesus Our Lord. 

God has endowed man with wisdom and power to subdue this 
great earth, and to till it, and cause it to produce rich crops for 
the sustenance and comfort of man. To fell the trees of the for- 
est and saw them into suitable timbers for building houses and 
making comfortable homes, to add to the pleasure's of man's so- 
journ here. Man has wisdom to construct the great ships, to 
navigate the great oceans, and carry on commerce with the dif- 
ferent nations of earth; and power and wisdom to build engines, 
and to build roads of wood and iron and steel, and put engines 
and cars on them, and carry passengers and freight from one 
part of a country to another, with rapidity and ease. 

Man has the power and wisdom to catch the forked lightning, 
and hold it fast, and make it subservient to the use of himself 
to light up cities, or to unclog the wheels of nature, or as a mes- 
senger to carry his thoughts from city to city, and from country 
to country almost without time. 

And the Creator of man endowed him with wisdom and power 
to transfer his thoughts with pen and ink upon paper, and cor- 
respond with the world of mankind through newspapers, and 
write books upon important subjects, and have them handed 
down to the last generations. God and the Word never made 
this exalted creature, man, to be annihilated; but to live forever 
with Him in Heaven. 






THE COVENANT. 

THE covenant of redemption, between God the Father and God 
the Word, or the then prospective Son of God, the second 
person in the trinity of the God head, as entered into 
before the foundation of the world. 

They agreed in that covenant to make a world, and it was 
done. And it was further agreed that the water should be filled 
with fishes, and the air with fowls, and the forest with animals, 
and it was all done. And it was furthermore agreed that man 
should be made in the image and after the likeness of God and 
the Word, and it was done. And it was furthermore agreed 
that after the} T had made man in their imag-e, and after their 
likeness, that they should breath into his nostrils the breath of 
life, and that he should then become a living- soul; and it was all 
done just that way. And it was then furthermore agreed that 
they should cause a deep sleep to come upon Adam and that 
they should take a rib out of his side, and heal up the flesh 
instead thereof, and make a woman out of the rib, and give her 
to Adam for a helpmeet; and it was done (but they never 
breathed into her nostrils, for I suppose she inherited the breath 
of life and became a living- soul from Adam.) And it was 
furthermore agreed that Adam should be called upon to give 
names to everything- that was created, and Adam named every- 
thing, and when they brought him his helpmeet he said she 
should be called woman, because she was taken out of man, 
that she was flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone. 
Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave 
unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. And the} T further- 
more agreed and covenanted together, that they would plant a 
garden, and cause the earth to bring forth fruit of every kind, 
that was good for food, and pleasant to the sight, and that the 
tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 
should be in the midst of the garden, and that they should water 
the garden with four rivers. And take the man and put him in 
the garden, to dress it, and to keep it. And say to the man of 
every tree of the garden thou may est freely eat. But of the tree 
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for 
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

And it is furthermore agreed that the devil shall be permit- 
ted to crawl into the garden and tempt them to partake of the 
forbidden fruit; and man must be left a free moral agent to 
exercise the judgment with which we have endowed him; he 
must choose for himself; if he partakes of the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil he must die; and it was all done in accor- 
dance with the covenant. And Satan crawled in like a serpent, 



12 THE DEA TH ADAM DIED IN EDEN. 

and beguiled the woman, and she did eat, and she gave to the 
man, and he did eat. And the penalty was death. And it was 
executed the same day the crime was perpetrated. Death in 
the common acceptation of the term in our day and time, means 
extinction of life; but this could not have been the sense in 
which God used it in this case, because Adam lived on hundreds 
of years after he ate the forbidden fruit; but he did die the death 
that God meant, the same day that he ate the forbidden fruit. 
Then what kind of a death was it that Adam died in Eden? 
Well, as Christ is the nearest kinsman of God that we know of, 
we will call upon him to explain it for us. 

Christ says: ''Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die. Believest thou this?" St. John 11:26. This quo- 
tation helps to explain it. Christ could not have meant that 
the spirit of him that believed in Christ should never step out of 
the animal body, and go to him, and leave the body to decay in 
the grave. No, but he meant that the essential, the immortal, 
part of that man that believed in him, should never die; that is, 
that it should never depart from peace and joy in the Holy 
Spirit. And that in due time the dust of that mortal body 
would be raised an immortal body, and reunited with the spirit, 
and then both body and spirit live on together with Christ 
forever. Neither did God mean that Adam should die the day 
that he ate the forbidden fruit, according to the meaning we 
usually attach to the word die; but he meant that he should 
depart from that rest of soul, of body, and mind that he had 
hitherto enjoyed, before he transgressed. Before he sinned, he 
was innocent and happy; he was well and healthy, and sur- 
rounded by plenty, placed in a delightful garden, furnished with 
everything beautiful upon which to feast his eyes; and every- 
thing delicious upon which to feast his appetite; no laborious 
work for his hands, no perplexing questions to mar the tran- 
quility of his placid thoughts, not a wave of trouble to roll 
across his peaceful breast. But, alas! alas! alas! Adam sinned! 
Adam died! Died to the joys, comforts and pleasures of Eden. 
He died to that sweet union and communion he had with God 
in his primeval state. He no longer rejoices when he hears the 
footsteps of God coming into the garden, but he is ashamed, 
fears and trembles. He is dead in tresspasses and sins. Oh! 
what a horrible, miserable, bitter death! Dead to the sweet 
intercourse he once held with God. He now sees that they are 
naked, and they go off among the trees of the garden, and try to 
hide themselves from the shining face of God. Their consciences 
condemn them, and they sewed fig leaves together to make aprons 
for themselves, feeling that they were without God, and without 
hope in the world. They knew that they had sinned, and they 
knew that God had just cause to be angry with them. They 
felt in their hearts that they were separated from God, and 
would be until reconciliation was made in some way. 



COUR'I IN THE CAR PEN. 13 



COURT IN THE GARDEN. 



It was furthermore agreed upon by the stipulations of the 
Covenant between God the Father and God the Word, before the 
foundation of the world, that when the Serpent should beguile 
the woman and the woman should beguile the man, that God 
the Father should then enter the garden and hold court with 
the transgressors, and pass sentence upon them. 

And in compliance with the stipulations of the Covenant, God 
entered the Garden of Eden, and called court as follows: "Adam 
where art thou?" Adam answered. "I heard thy voice in the 
garden, and I was afraid, and hid myself for I was naked." 
God said, "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou 
eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst 
not eat?" And the man said, "The woman whom thou gavest 
to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." And the 
Lord God said unto the woman, "What is this that thou hast 
done?" And the woman said, "The Serpent beguiled me, and I 
did eat." God did not interrogate the Serpent,- for he knew the 
truth was not in him, but he proceeded at once to pass sentence 
upon him. "And the Lord God said unto the Serpent: Because 
thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above 
every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust 
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; and I will put enmity 
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her 
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." 
Then he passed sentence upon the woman. God said unto 
the woman, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy con- 
ception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy 
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." 
Then Adam's case was called, and God passed sentence thus: 
"Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and 
hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saving, 
Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in 
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and 
thistles also shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the 
herbs of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread 
till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; 
for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Adam and 
Eve plead guilty. That made it go lighter with them. 

MAN'S EXPULSION FROM EDEN. 

In the Covenant, it was further agreed that man should be 
driven from the garden, and the way of the tree of life guarded, 
and man doomed to return to dust, to die a mortal death. 

O! horrible death! Man died, not only that disgraceful 
death in the garden, which dismantled him of all that primeval 
glory, which he had with God in Eden, but he was also sentenced 
to a mortal death. 'The sentence was. •■Thou shalt return unto 



14 THE COVENANT. 

dust." Adam lived on in the flesh nine hundred and thirty years, 
and then died in accordance with the Covenantal agreement. 

And we find that the sentence passed upon Adam, in regard 
to mortal death, extends to all of his posterity. Millions, mul- 
tiplied by millions of Adam's posterity have already died that 
mortal death, and returned to dust. And we see or hear of their 
dying- every day, and returning- to dust. 

Only two, so far as we know, are exceptions to the mortal 
death, to-wit: Enoch and Elijah. 

And the Lord God said: "Behold the man is become as one 
of us, to know g-ood and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, 
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, 
therefore the Lord sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to 
till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the 
man, and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim, 
and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of 
the tree of life." Gen. 3. Remember, now, that the tree of life 
was in the midst of that g-arden, and that it was in the power of 
man to partake of that tree of life and live forever. 

Adam and Eve made a shocking and destructive mistake in 
partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which 
was positively forbidden, instead of partaking of the tree of life, 
which was not forbidden, but was planted there in the midst of 
the garden for man to partake of and live forever. Partaking of 
the tree of knowledge brought an everlasting curse, while par- 
taking of the tree of life would have brought life eternal. With 
the experience I have, and the knowledge that I have of that old 
lying Serpent I would not have made that mistake. But poor old 
Grandpapa Adam, and Grandmama Eve, had not learned to 
dread the frown of a sin avenging God, nor to appreciate the 
boon of eternal life. And after they had sinned the tree of life was 
still accessible, they could have reached forth their hands and 
have plucked the fruit from the tree of life, and have lived for- 
ever, if it had not been for their confusion, their shame, their 
fear, and sense of condemnation, that weighed so heavily upon 
their hearts; for their locomotive power was not impaired by the 
fall; because they went off among the trees and hid themselves, 
and sewed fig leaves together; neither were their intellects im- 
paired, for they became wise like Gods, to know good from evil. 
But God was close after them, before they had time to collect 
their thoughts and recover from the shock of the death they had 
died, God was there, early in the morning, while it was still 
cool, and called them to account for what they had done, lest 
they should put forth their hands and pluck the fruit of life and 
live forever, he drove them out of the garden, and placed 
cherubim and a flaming sword to the east of the garden to guard 
the way of the tree of life. 

Man is now powerless to save himself; to reach forth his hand 
and pluck the germ of eternal life. He cannot compete with the 



M. /AW EXPULSION FROM EDEN. 15 

cherubim arid that flaming- sword turning right and left to guard 
the tree of life. Man has missed his opportunity. 

When was the Covenant made between God and the Word? 
Before the foundation of the world; before the dust of the 
highest hills were laid; in all probability millions of years before 
the commencement of the six days work. Why did God choose 
or elect the Word for a partner? 

1. Because he was God's equal in wisdom, power and glory. 

2. Because he was equally interested with God in the creation 
of man. 

3. Because he had to take an active part in the salvation of 
man. 

4. Because he was the only being- in Heaven or in the universe 
that could be found, that could fill the place satisfactorily. He 
was the Lion of the tribe of Judah, that opened that book that 
John saw in his vision on the Isle of Patmos, and loosed the 
seals thereof. And well mig-ht he open the book, and unloose 
the seals thereof, for it was his book; it was the book of the 
Covenant, embracing- the contents of the Covenant. The names 
of the elect were recorded in that "book of life of the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8. 

It was arrang-ed in the Covenant between God and the Word 
that if Adam failed to keep the law in the garden that he should 
have a chance to bring himself into favor with God. That he 
should have a second law, the substance of which was: "Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and 
strength, and thy neighbor as thyself." Now, if man by resisting 
the devil, and doing g'ood works, shall bring himself back into 
favor with God, he shall be entitled to the honor of saving 
himself; but if he fails in one jot, or title, he shall be guilty of 
the whole. Then in the arrangements of the Covenant away 
back, God said to the Word: "If man fails to keep this second 
law, atonement shall have to be made. I propose to you that 
at a set time, that you go down among Adam's people and be 
born of the virgin Mary; be made flesh and blood, and keep the 
law for those sinful creatures; and all that will accept your 
righteousness you shall have, and all that will cleave to Satan 
we will have to let them follow him to his own place." St. John 
3:14, 15, 16, 17. We believe that the Word objected, and gave 
as a reason that the devil had such a strong hold upon the 
people that the thoughts of their hearts were only evil, and that 
continually; and it might so happen that none of the people 
would accept me, and then nry trip would be in vain, and the 
people on earth would laugh at my folly, for you know the 
children of darkness are said to be wiser in their generation 
than the children of light. And when I should come back to 
Heaven the angels would treat me with scorn, and you would 
drive me from the narrow gate, and declare me unworthy to be 
called thy son, or thy partner. God said: "Hold on, Word, you 



16 THE COVENANT. 

have not looked ahead; let us call up the world, and the inhabi- 
tants as it will be two thousand years ahead; look down the 
long- vista of the future, and look into the hearts and characters 
of the people that will populate the world at that time; look at 
Abraham, how hard he tries to keep the second law; he medi- 
tates upon my law day and night. I will put him to a test; I 
have promised him to bless his seed in Isaac, and now I will 
command him to take his son Isaac to a specified place and 
offer him to me as a burnt o^ering. Abraham does not stop to 
debate the merits of the command in his own mind, nor to 
inquire of God anything about why he requires it. See him 
(Gen. 22:1, 14,) he has no programme of his own fix-up to carry 
out; no self-will to control him; his purpose in life is to fear God, 
and keep his commandments. Were it not for this prospective 
view of Abraham we would at once abandon the idea of man, and 
make something better, but here he is, and here is my Covenant 
with him: "By myself have I sworn, said the Lord, for because 
thou hast done this thing, and hast not witheld thy son, thine 
only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, that in multipl ying 
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of Heaven, and as the sand 
which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of 
his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth 
be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." Gen. 22:16-18. 
Then here is the renewal of this Covenant with Isaac, Abraham's 
son: 

"I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and 
unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform 
the oath which I sware unto Abraham, thy father; and I will 
make thy seed to multiply as the stars of Heaven, and will give 
unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the 
nations of the earth be blessed: Because that Abraham obeyed 
my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, 
and my laws." Gen. 26: 3-5. 

And here, also is a renewal of this covenant with Jacob, Abra- 
ham's grandson: "I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, 
and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I 
give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the 
earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, 
and to the North, and to the South; and in thee and in thy seed 
shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am 
with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, 
and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee 
until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Gen. 
28: 13-15. 

"And God said unto him, I am God Almighty; be fruitful and 
multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, 
and king-s shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave 
Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after 
thee will I give the land." 35: 11, 12. : Therefore, Word, hav- 



THE COVENANT. 17 

ing this view of faithful Abraham, and his descendants you sec 
that many will come to voti for salvation. Yea, behold the 
thousands of the Abrahamic family that will come to the light 
and acknowledge the truth to their salvation. And to satisfy 
you, and to honor my faithful servant, Abraham, I will secure 
to you of Abraham's seed one hundred and forty-four thousand. 
I know them, I vouch for them, I will call them, I will predesti- 
nate them, I will justify them; }^ea, I will g-lorify them. I will 
elect them unto eternal life, and they shall be my people, and I 
will be their God. I will give them unto you as a sure joy; such 
joy as Paul shall mention: "Who for the joy that was set before 
him endured the cross, despising- the shame, and is set down at 
the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12:2. 

God then tenders the Lamb's Book of Life to the Word, and 
tells him to register the name of the elect as he calls them out. 
God adds: "Now, Word, in order to keep the fear of destruc- 
tion, and the hope of deliverance before the people of the earth 
it will be necessary for us to have holy men chosen, and qualified 
to prophesy to the people, that is to tell them of us, to lead them 
into the path of truth and holiness; and to make known to them 
that you are coming- at a time appointed; and to tell them all 
about your purity of character, of your meekness, of your con- 
descenison, in coming- to earth, of your sufferings, of your death, 
of your burial, of your resurrection, etc. 

'f hen we will need various kinds of leaders. Look away over 
in that country we will call Egypt, see that people in bondage, 
who are the seed of my faithful Abraham. I will elec t and pre- 
ordain a man to lead them from under these ungodly Egyptians. 
I will put a mark upon him while he is in his mother's womb, 
so that his mother shall know that he is a chosen vessel unto hon- 
or, so that she shall hide him from old Pharoah. His name shall 
be Moses. Write down his name in the Lamb's Book of Life. 
Then he will need help; I will elect Aaron and Eleazer, his son 
to succeed him, and assist Moses; and we will .call them priests. 
Write down their names. I will also ordain other priests out 
of the tribe of Levi. Here are their names. These priests shall 
stand "between the people and God, and shall offer sacrifices, 
lambs , heierfs, and other clean animals, which shall be typical 
of the sacrifice you shall offer in the person of yourself ; to keep 
in the minds of the people that you will come into the world, 
aud be a great high priest, after the order of Melchisedec, and 
be offered up for the people. Put down the names of all these 
priests in your Book. Next put down the names of the prophets 
I mentioned just now. First, the four greater prophets, and then 
the twelve minor prophets. Now, in about four thousand years, 
when you shall go into the world to compl} T with our covenant 
and to fulfill the saying of the prophets, you will need corlaborers, 
witnesses, etc. I will elect twelve men to be with you on the 
earth, to help you in this great and laudable undertaking to save 



18 EVIDENCE OF A COVENANT. 

the world. Write down their names as I call them. I have now 
given you a number of priests, sixteen prophets, and twelve 
apostles, promiscuously out of all the tribes of Israel; and it is 
my purpose to give }^ou twelve thousand out of each of the twelve 
tribes of Israel, making- in all one hundred and forth-four thous- 
and. Understand? I will explain: If I have given you fifteen 
for priests out of Levi's tribe I will ordain and give you eleven 
thousand nine hundred and eigiity-five more of that tribe; and 
if I have given you twelve apostles out of another tribe I will 
give you eleven thousand nine hundred and eigiity-eigiit more 
out of that tribe; and if I have given you sixteen prophets out 
of another tribe I will give you eleven thousand nine hundred 
dred and eighty-four out of that tribe. I mean that I will give 
you in all, out of all the twelve tribes of Israel one hundred and 
forty-four thousand, twelve thousand from each of the twelve 
tribes. Write all their names in your Book; then shut it and 
seal it. 

Lest some should say that the above is only the work of the 
imagination I will quote some scripture to show the foundation 
for this line of thought. "All that the Father giveth me shall 
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
out. For I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, 
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will 
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should 
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Jno. 
6:37-39. "I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for 
them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all 
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. 
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, 
and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name 
those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. 
While I was with them in the world I kept them in thy name; 
those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, 
but the son of perdition that the Scriptures might be fulfilled." 
John 17:9-12. "And we know that all things work together for 
good to them that love God, to them who are the called, accord- 
ing to his purpose." Rom. 8:28. This Scripture shows clearly 
that God had a purpose in calling and electing a people that he 
fere-knew; knowing that they were suited for the work to which 
he called them; therefore he predestinated them to be his people, 
and gave them to his Son, for his efficient services in the salva- 
tion of man. "Therefore will I divide him a portion." Isa. 
53:12. 

EVIDENCE OF A COVENANT. 

"For whom he did foreknow he did predestinate to be con- 
formed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born 
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified; 



THE COVENANT. 19 

and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Roin. S:2 ( ), 30. 

"According - as he hath chosen us in him before the founda- 
tion of the world, that we should be holy and without blame be- 
fore him in love; having- predestinated us unto the adoption of 
children by Jesus Christ to himself according- to the g-ood pleas- 
ure of his will" Eph. 1:4, 5. 

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the 
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, 
that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor 
on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the East, 
having the seal of the living God; and he cried with aloud voice 
to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the 
sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the fea; nor the trees 
till we have sealed the servants of our Gad in their foreheads. 
And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there 
were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the 
tribes of the children of Israd. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed 
twelve thousacd. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of God were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Asa were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of 
Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Man- 
asseh were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were 
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thous- 
and. Of the tribe of Zebulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of 
Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand." Rev. 7:1-8. 

"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and 
to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds, 
tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life 
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:7,8. 

"And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, 
and the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers 
harping with their harps. And sang as it were a new song before 
the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders; and no man 
could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thous- 
and, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which 
were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are 
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These 
were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God 
and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for 
they are without fault before the throne of God." Rev. 14:2-5. 

AGREEMENT OF THE COVENANT AS AMENDED' 

Now, to return again directly to the covenant. The Word 
says: "Your proposition is satisfactory, only I wish to offer a 
slight amendment: From what I can see of the Adamic family 
many are very corrupt, and as I am to be born of a woman I 



20 AGREEMENT OF THE COVENANT AS AMENDED. 

should like to have a select set of representative men of whose lin- 
iage I shall be born. God then accepts the amendment, and 
says, Behold Abel, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob 
and Joseph and so on, such men as these shall be the represen- 
tative men of your liniage. Then the covenant was signed, 
sealed and delivered to Christ for future reference. 

From Scriptures quoted on the past several pages we can not 
but see that God loved Abraham and wonderfully rewarded him, 
and his seed for his faithfulness toward God. 

God's intimacy with Abraham, and Abraham's obedience to 
God ma}' raise the inquiry, was not Abraham saved bv the law? If 
he kept the law he was saved by the law. Did he keep the law? God 
said to Isaac, "I will give unto thy seed all these countries, and 
in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: Because 
that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my com- 
mandments, my statutes and my laws." Well, that looks very 
much like Abraham might have been saved by the law. As if 
Abraham might have marched up to Heaven's gate, and de- 
manded entrance on the ground of his perfection. When Peter 
(as it is said Christ gave him the key) might have turned the key 
and have invited father Abraham in, but then God would have said: 
"Hold on, Peter, you are too hasty; you seem to have that same 
hasty spirit that possessed you while on earth, as was manifested 
when you said to Christ, 'I will never forsake you.' " Peter: "I 
don't consider that I am hasty in this case, for I have left theearth, 
and have been wholly sanctified, and have left all my imperfec- 
tions behind. I looked well into the case before I admitted Abra- 
ham. You gave him a law to keep, and you said yourself that 
he had obeyed your voice, kept your charge, your command- 
ments, your statutes and your laws, and I can't see for the life 
of me how you can shut the door against old father Abraham." 
God: "You are not as sharp as you thought you were, Peier. 
When I said that he kept my laws I meant in the main, for you 
remember that Abraham dissembled a little once, when he 
told Sarai to say that she was his sister. It was the truth in part, 
as she was his half-sister, but this was deception, and instead of 
relying upon his own shrewdness to save his life he should have 
trusted me for deliverance." Peter: "Abraham was faithful 
toward you all his life, and did his best to keep the law to a jot 
and a tittle and you promised him so often that you would bless 
him and his seed, and all the nations of the earth in his seed. 
Can you not wink at that slight misgiving in the dear old father 
and admit him?" God: "Well, Peter, you contend earnestly 
for Abraham; but see here, if that mistake of Abraham's were 
looked over, and he saved by the law, but very few others would 
come so near keeping the law; hence nearly all the human family 
would be lost were it not for the atonement. You don't under- 
stand, Peter! Isaac was a type of Christ, Isaac, the only proper 
son of Abraham, and Christ, the only son of God. Christ was 



THE COVENANT. 21 

the seed of God, the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the 
seed of Jacob, the seed of Joseph, and this was the seed in which 
all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. The same cove- 
nant that God made with Abraham on earth was a repetition of 
the covenant that was made with the Word in the beginning. 
Christ agreed to come into the world and keep the law that God 
had given to man; to become a substitute for man; to give eternal 
life to as many as would believe on his name. And God, in or- 
der to secure to his beloved Son a sure portion, as a reward for 
his sufferings, and to honor Abraham, his .faithful servant, 
elected one hundred and forty-f our thousand, choosing- them out 
of the twelve tribes of Israel as has been stated. The twelve 
sons of Jacob, the twelve great grand sons of Abraham, were 
the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. God elected 
twelve thousand out of each one of the twelve tribes of Israel in 
Christ, according- to fore-knowledg-e, throug-h sanctification 
of the Spirit, unto obedience, and the sprinkling- of the blood of 
Christ Jesus. 1 Pet. 1:2. 

"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, 
brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the begin- 
ning- chosen vou to salvation throug-h sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of 'the truth." 2 Thes. 2:13. 

"For Jacob, my servant's sake, and Israel, mine Elect, I have 
even called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, thougii 
thou hast not known me." Isa. 45:4. 

"Yet now hear, O, Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have 
chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee 
from the womb, which will help thee. Fear not, O, Jacob, 
my servant, and thou Jeshuran, whom I have chosen." Isa. 
45:1, 2. 

"And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all 
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise 
it up again at the last day." Jno. 6:39. 

"I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which 
thou has given me; for they are thine, and all mine are thine 
and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." Jno. 17:9, 10. 

For whom he did fore-know he also did predestinate to be 
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first 
born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predesti- 
nate them he also called; and whom he called them he also jus- 
tified; and whom he justified them he also glorified." Rom. 
8:29, 30. 

"I say then hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For 
I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of 
Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, whom he fore- 
knew. Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias? How he 
maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they 
have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars, and I 
am left alone and they seek my life. But what saith the answer 



22 AGREEMENT OF THE COVENANT AS AMENDED. 

of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand 
men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even 
so then at this present time also there is a remnant according* to 
the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of 
works; otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, 
then is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work. What 
then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but 
election hath obtained.it, and the rest were blinded. (According 
as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, 
eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not 
hear,) unto this day. And David saith, let their table be made 
a snare and a trap, and a stumbling- block, and a recompense 
unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, 
and bow down their back always. I say then, have they stum- 
bled that they should fall? God forbid. But rather throug-h 
their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke 
them to jealousy. Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the 
world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, 
how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, in- 
asmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify mine office, 
if by any means I may provoke 'to emulation them which are my 
flesh and might save some of them. 

"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the 
world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the 
dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the trunk is also holy; and 
if the root be holy so are the branches. And if some of the 
branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert 
grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and 
fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches; but if 
thou boast thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou 
wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be 
graffed~ in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and 
thou standest by faith; be not high-minded, but fear. ' For if 
God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also 
spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of 
God; on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if 
thou continue in His goodness; otherwise thou also shall be cut 
off. And they also, if they abide still not in unbelief, shall be 
graffed in; for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou 
wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert 
graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more 
shall these which be the natural branches, be graffed into their 
own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be 
ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own con- 
ceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the full- 
ness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, 
as it is written. There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, 
and shall turn away ungodliness from Israel, for this is my cov- 
enant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As con- 



THE COVENANT. 23 

corning- the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as 
touching- election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For 
the g-ifts and calling* of God are without repentance; for as ye in 
times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy 
throug-h their unbelief. Even so have these also now not be- 
lieved that throug-h your mercy they may also obtain mercy. 
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might 
have mercy upon all. O! the depth of the riches both of the 
wisdom and knowledg-e of God! How unsearchable are His 
judg-ments, and His ways past finding- out. For who hath 
known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? 
Or who hath first g-iven to Him, and it shall be recompensed 
unto him ag-ain? For of Him, and throug-h Him, and to Him, 
are all thing's, to whom be glory forever! Amen!" Rom. 2. 

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the 
saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 
Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in 
Heavenly places in Christ. According as He hath chosen us in 
Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, 
and without blame before Him in love. Having- predestinated 
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, ac- 
cording- to the g-ood pleasure of His will." Eph. 1:1-5. 

From the Scriptures quoted it is shown beyond a reasonable 
doubt that God did, in the beginning - , choose, prefer and elect a 
certain people, from the Adamic family, unto an inheritance of 
everlasting- happiness. And it is equally as plain that He gave 
them to the Word, the second person in the Trinity. Christ said 
to His Father: "I have manifested Thy name unto the men 
which Thou gavest me out of the world; Thine they were, and 
Thou gavest them me; and they have kept Thy Word." Jno. 
17:6. I once thought that Christ here alluded to all that the 
Father had given Him; that is, the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand (Rev. V), but I am indebted to my friend and brother, 
E. Hearne, of Center, Texas, for a better solution of that text. 
Christ was speaking specially of the apostles, those that God 
had given Him out of the world. He had called them away 
from their fishing, and their tax gathering, etc., to follow Him 
and learn of Him; they were His disciples, following Him day 
and night, and learning words of wisdom from His holy mouth. 
They were constantly with Him, receiving instruction for about 
three years. And after He had educated them He commanded 
them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature; declaring that all who should believe and be baptized 
should be saved, and all that believed not should be damned. He 
prayed to His Father not to take them out of the world, but to 
keep them from the evil of the world, for he had a great work 
for them to do here on earth. They were His witnesses to bear 



24 JOHN'S VIEW WHILE ON P ATM OS. 

testimony for Him; as the Father had sent Him into the world 
to do a great work in the redemption of lost man, so He sent His 
apostles to carry on the great work of soul-savin g, of which He 
had laid the sure foundation, He Himself being- the chief corner 
stone. It was for these that He interceded with the Father 
when He was about to leave the earth. He says to the Father: 
"These are Thine, and all oi Mine are Thine, and Thine are 
Mine." Jno.. 17:10. 

This makes it plain that God had given Him others besides 
the apostles; that the Father had elected others to eternal life. 
He came to His own and they received Him not, but the apostles 
received Him readily. Therefore, we see that the apostles were 
only a small part of the people that God had given to the Word 
in the beginning-. These Scriptures quoted are sufficient to con- 
vince any unprejudiced man, who believes the Bible, that God 
did give the Word a definite number of people of the seed of 
Abraham, and that they are kept by the power of God unto ever- 
lasting- life. I will quote once more from John, the Revelator, 
the man who was so devoted to the cause that he was banished 
to the lonely Isle of Patmos by the enemies of the Cross. While 
he was here in exile God was not unmindful of him, but visited 
him there and bestowed a special honor upon him; an honor 
such as was never bestowed upon any other man, as far as we 
know. He g-ave him a view of the great day of judg-ment, and 
the arrang-ements just preceding- it. 



JOHN'S VIEW WHILE ON PATMOS. 

^ A ^^ after these thing-s I saw four ang-els standing- on the four 
t\ corners of the earth holding- the four winds of the earth, that 
the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on 
any tree. And I saw another ang-el ascending- from the east, 
having- the seal of the living- God, and he cried with a loud voice 
to the four ang-els to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and 
the sea, saying-, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor any 
tree, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their fore- 
heads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed, a 
hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the 
children of Israel." Rev. 7. Twelve thousand out of each of the 
twelve tribes, as has already been quoted. 

We have trailed these servants of God from the beginning-, 
from before the foundation of the world, to the eve of the great 
judg-ment day; finding- all along the trail unmistakable marks 
and signs of their identity. They were and are evidently God's 
chosen people, his elect, his redeemed people, his special flock, 
given to Christ in the covenant of redemption, entered into be- 
tween God the Father, and God the Word in the beginning. 



JOHN'S VIEW WHILE ON PATMOS. 25 

"And I looked, and Lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and 
with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having- his 
Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice 
from Heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a 
great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping- with 
their harps; and they sang- as it were a new song- before the 
throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders; and no man 
could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thous- 
and, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they 
which were not denied with women; for they are virg-ins. These 
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He g-oeth. 
These were redeemed from among- men, being- the first fruits 
unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no 
g-uile; for they are without fault before the throne of God." 
Rev. 14:1-5. 

The above Scriptures are additional, conclusive proof that God 
did choose, elect, ordain and predestinate a certain people unto 
eternal life, before the foundation of the world. He called them, 
justified them, and glorified them. 

It has been said that Christ was God's elected seed; that his 
elect was seed singailar, not plural. Well, he that said it was 
half rig-ht and half wrong-; rig-ht in that Christ was God's elect 
seed, the seed that was elected to grow the tree which should 
bear rig-hteous fruit; the fruit whereof if any man partakes he 
shall never die. In that seed, Christ, God elected one hun- 
dred and forty-four thousand to eternal life to be His people, 
in proof of which I ag-ain refer you to the eleventh chap- 
ter of Romans, where Klias maketh intercessions to God 
against Israel, saying-, Lord, they have killed Thy proph- 
ets, and dig-ged down Thine altars; and I alone am left, and 
they seek my life; but what saith the answer of God unto him? 
I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not 
bowed the knee to the imag-e of Baal. Even so then at this 
present time there is a remnant, according- to the election of 
grace, and if by grace then is it no more of works, otherwise 
grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no 
more grace, otherwise, work is no more work. What then? 
"Israel hath not obtained that he seeketh for, but the election 
hath obtained it." This Scripture is clear proof that God elected 
more than one. There were, at that time, upon the earth, seven 
thousand of the one hundred and forty-four thousand that were 
chosen, or elected out of the twelve tribes, of which the twelve 
grand patriarchs, the great grand sons of Abraham, were the 
representatives. 

Israel sought to be saved by the law, but failed, but God had 
secured to himself a sure inheritance, by electing- grace, as a 
portion for His Son, which He did give to His Son, that the Son 
might have joy in their salvation. Heb. 12:2. "Who for the 
jo} T that was set before him endured the cross, despised the 



26 RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 

shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." 
Abraham came very near obtaining- everlasting- life by keep- 
ing- the law; but the dear old father wavered slig-htly, and God 
included all under sin, that it mig-ht be by grace that all were 
saved. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is 
none other name under Heaven g-iven among- men whereby we 
must be saved." Acts 4:12. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 

I WILL now consider the responsibility, or accountability of 
man. Will commence with Rev. 7:9, as a text. "After this I 
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, 
of all nations, and kindreds, and tong-ues, and people, stood before 
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying-, Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 
And all the ang-els stood round about the throne, and about the 
elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their 
faces, and worshiped God, saying-, Amen: Blessing-, and glory 
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and 
right, be unto our God forever and ever, Amen. And one of the 
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are ar- 
rayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto 
him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they 
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. There- 
fore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and 
night in His Temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them, and shall lead them unto fountains of living waters; and 
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

We learn from this text that a great multitude were saved be- 
sides those who were elected and predestinated unto eternal life 
before the foundation of the world. It is as clear to an unpreju- 
diced and cultivated mind that the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand were God's elect as the noonday light of a cloudless 
day. Because they are of Abraham's seed, with whom God had 
so many talks, and made so many covenants, in which he prom- 
ised to bless him and his seed; and all the nations of 
the earth in his seed besides the covenants he made with 
Isaac, Abraham's son, and Jacob, his grandson. Bear in 
mind that they were taken out of the twelve tribes of the twelve 
great grandsons of Abraham. This one hundred and forty- 
four thousand were to be the first fruits. Now add my quotation 



RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 27 

from first part of fourteenth chapter of Revelations, where it de- 
clared that the one hundred and forty-four thousand followed the 
Lamb whithersoever he went, and sung- a new song- that no other 
people could learn ; and that they were the first fruits unto God and 
the Lamb. This language implies second fruits, and this im- 
plication is fully met in this great multitude that no man could 
number. Christ was God's seed, elect, precious; and that one 
seed brought forth to him one hundred and forty-four thousand 
as a first people saved. 

Jesus sent forth his twelve apostles to hunt up the elect, the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel. Sheep is a term or name b}' 
which God designates his people from others. Then some of his 
sheep were lost, that is they had strayed off from the flock, they 
were scattered in the towns and villages, and in the mountains 
and valleys. They were lost as a child is lost to his parents 
when it has wandered off from the parental roof into unknown 
paths, or into the dense forest, where the dark shades of night- 
fall have shrouded him in craze and bewilderment of mind. The 
parents miss him and start out with throbbing hearts to search 
for him. O, where is my child! my lost child! Will I ever see 
my darling again? What anxiety fills the beating heart of the 
parents. Some of Christ's sheep had wandered off from the fold, 
and he could not see them with his man eyes, nor know with his 
man knowledge where they were; hence as a good and loving 
Father he sends his twelve disciples to search for his lost sheep; 
they were his and he wanted them; he had purchased them with 
his own precious blood. He did not want them to take them out 
of the world; but he desired to keep them from the evil of the 
world. Jno. 17:15. 

After he had looked after his own sheep, the one hundred and 
forty-four thousand the Father had given him in the beginning, 
which were as the first fruits of his redemption, he then began 
to look after the second and last crop of souls. Then said the 
Jews, among themselves, whither will he go, that we shall not 
find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, 
and teach the Gentiles? What manner of saying is this that he 
said, Ye shall seek me and shall not find me, and where I am 
thither ye cannot come? In the last day, that great day of the 
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying: "If any man thirst let him 
come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scrip- 
ture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him 
should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because 
that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" Jno. 7:35-39. 

The Jews had spoken derisively of Christ going to his Father, 
and this was his answer to these bigoted people: "If any man 
thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on 
me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," etc. This 
is a grand declaration of principles, indicating the power and 



28 RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 

will of the great Savior of mankind. "If any man thirst." He 
does not say if any Jew, if any Greek, if any Barbarian, if any 
Scythian, if any wise man, if any foolish man but "If any man" 
etc. 

Now, reader, the only question for you to decide is, whether 
you are a man, or belong- to the man family. Do you belong* to 
the family of Adam, and are you old enough to think, reason 
and decide for yourself? Do you hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness? If so then you are included; you are invited to come to 
Jesus and drink. Then hear the glorious promise: "He that 
believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living- water." 
He meant that He would put His Spirit in them, and that they 
should be governed by His Spirit; that they should have great 
peace, etc. "Then had thy peace been as a river." Isa. 48:18. 

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, "It was neces- 
sary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you; 
but seeing- ye put it from you and judg-e yourselves unworthy of 
eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord 
commanded, saying-, I have set thee to be a lig-ht to the Gentiles, 
that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." 
Acts 13:46, 47. 

In connection with this I will ag-ain quote from Revelations four- 
teenth chapter. After John saw that one hundred and forty-four 
thousand and heard them sing- that new song- that none others could 
sing-, and who were the first fruits unto God and the Lamb, he 
said, "I saw another ang-el fly in the midst of Heaven, having 
the everlasting- g-ospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the 
earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue, and people 
saying- with aloud voice: Fear God and give glory to him, for 
the hour of judgment is come, and worship him that made 
Heaven and earth and the sea, and the fountains of waters." 
Rev. 14:6, 7. 

And after Christ had been crucified, buried, and had risen 
from the grave, He commanded His apostles to g-o into all the 
world and preach the Gospel to every creature, declaring- he 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned. We will now come directly to the 
text ag-ain. Notice the lang-uag-e of the Revelator: "After this 
I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which no man could number, 
of all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and people stood be- 
fore the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes 
and palms in their hands." What a multitude of saved people! 
No man could number them! 

Ah! God promised Abraham to multiply his seed as the dust 
of the earth, and as the stars of Heaven. That one hundred and 
forty-four thousand elect were of Abraham's seed, but they con- 
stituted a very small per cent, of that seed that God so often 
promised to bless and to multiply. God made his covenant with 
Abraham in good faith when he promised to bless his seed and 



RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 29 

to multiply it; He meant it in reality. He meant to encourag-e 
Abraham; to make him happy, to compliment him, to honor 
him. Suppose God had said to Abraham: "You are such a 
g-ood man. You have obeyed my laws, my commandments, 
etc. I will save one hundred and forty-four thousand of your 
seed, and predestinate them to eternal life, and they shall be 
happy forever.'' Abraham would have replied: "But, Father, 
what is to become of the millions, billions and quadrillions of 
my seed besides the one hundred and forty-four thousand chosen 
ones?" Then suppose God had said: "I don't know them; they 
will be forever damned." Then Abraham would have replied, 
"O, God! Is that the blessing - that you are to bestow upon my 
seed? To turn ninety-nine and seven-eights per cent, of them 
over to the devil to drag them down to everlasting darkness, 
where they shall have no rest day nor night; where the smoke of 
the wicked ascends forever and ever. If that is what you mean 
by multiplying- and blessing- my seed, please stop it. I don't 
aspire to any such honors; it had been better never to have ex- 
isted than to be mocked in such a way." Hold on, Father 
Abraham! God never said it, and God's Word contradicts it.. 
God is just and true to all His words, and keeps all of His cov- 
enants. We will now hear what God saj'S about saving people, 
and about giving them eternal life, and we think, Father Abra- 
ham, this will give you lull satisfaction. 

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish, but have eternal life. For" God so loved the 
world that He gave His only beg-otten son that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For 
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but 
that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth 
on Him is not condemned; but He that believeth not is con- 
demned already, because he hath not believed in the name of 
the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation 
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness bet- 
ter than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone 
that doeth evil hateth the lig*ht; neither cometh to the light, 
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth 
cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that 
they are wrought in God." Jno. 3:14-21. 

Does this satisfy thee, Father Abraham? Abraham: "O, 
that is better; that is more like my God. But see here, don't it ap- 
pear as if God just aimed to select one hundred and forty-four 
thousand out of all the Jewish nation, and damn the balance? 
I can't stand that idea. I see that God has made provision for 
the salvation of all who would accept Christ. It seems that He 
is good to all except the residue of my people, which is by far 
the greater portion of them. It seems that He has selected a 
little handful of choice ones out of my people, and will make 



30 RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 

them sons and daughters of God; give them mansions in glory, 
and make them happy forever. But to the large and number- 
less portion of my seed no salvation is offered. I view them 
now, intelligent men and women, in great numbers; following 
the lawful avocations of life, making good citizens. They are 
flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. I love them dearly; I want 
them saved. God said Himself that He made them after His 
own image and likeness, and for His own glory, and oh! why 
not give them a chance? Why is there not some way for them 
to escape hell, and an opportunity given them to reach Heaven? 
But O, my poor children, bound by the decree of Almighty God 
to plow in the dark domains of an eternal hell! God's back 
turned upon them forever! Poor children are gone!" Father 
Abraham, stop! I say stop. You certainly must be in your 
dotage; you have been dreaming; you don't understand; you 
didn't pay close attention to the text, for if you had you would 
not have raised all this lamentation. Let us repeat the first 
part of the text: "After this (that is, after one hundred and 
forty-four thousand had been sealed), I beheld, andlo! a great 
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and 
kindreds, and people, and tongues." Were the Jews a nation? 
Yes, a great nation! Then, don't you see that this multitude 
contains some from every nation? "Ah! Now I see! Now I 
understand it. God only elected one hundred and forty-four 
thousand out of the twelve tribes of the twelve patriarchs, who 
were my great grandsons, to honor me, as He has declared that 
He would honor them that honored Him." 1 Sam. 1:2-30. 
And also to secure a sure portion to His Son, in accordance with 
the thoughts of man. For the Scriptures clearly teach that 
God the Father did make a covenant with God the Son; and that 
God the Father did give God the Son a people to glorify Him. 
"All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me, and him 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down 
from Heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that 
sent me. And it is the Father's will which hath sent me, that 
of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should 
raise it up again at the last day." Jno. 6:37-39. Again, in the 
seventeenth chapter of John, Christ says: "I pray for them; I 
pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me; 
for they are Thine, and all Mine are Thine (meaning the twelve 
apostles specially his, and by l all mine' meaning the remaining 
portion, apostles included, of the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand which the Father had given Him), and Thine are 
Mine, and I am glorified in them." 

God and the Word were together in the beginning, and were 
equally concerned in the formation, creation, and salvation of 
man. We have already given Scripture to prove this fact. They 
knew whatman would do before they made him; they knew he 
would violate God's law in the garden of Eden; they knew he 



RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN. 31 

would violate the moral law; an*d they knew that the Word, the 
junior. partner, or the second person in the Trinity^, would have to 
take man's place, and keep the moral law for man. They knew 
that he would have to come into the human world, and become a 
genuine man, made of a woman, of the seed of David; made un- 
der the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons. "And because ye are sons 
God hath sent forth the spirit of His son into your hearts, cry- 
ing-, Abba, Father." Gal. 4:4-6. "For verily He took not on 
Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abra- 
ham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like 
unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful 
high priest, in things pertaining- to God, to make reconcilia- 
tion for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath 
suffered, being- tempted, He is able to succor them that are 
tempted." Heb. 2:16-18. Now let us have Isaiah's account of 
his humiliation and suffering's: "Who hath believed our re- 
port? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He 
shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out 
of a dry ground; He hath no form nor comeliness; and when 
we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire 
Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, 
and acquainted with griefs; and we hid as it were our faces 
from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely 
He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did 
esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He 
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our 
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and 
with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone 
astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and 
He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as 
a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison 
and from judgment and who shall declare His generation? For 
He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgres- 
sion of my people was He stricken, and He made His grave with 
the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done 
no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it 
pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; 
when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see 
His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the 
Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of 
His soul and shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall my 
righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniqui- 
ties. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and 
He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath 
poured out his soul unto death; and He was numbered with the 



32 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and he made inter- 
cession for the trangressors." Isa. 53. 

Here we have a pen picture, given by the inspired prophet, of 
the fearful humiliation, of the wonderful condescension, of the 
cruel temptations, of the excruciating- pains and sufferings of 
the Son of man, the Son of the eternal God, the Redeemer of 
poor, fallen, lost man. Jesus Christ had to suffer all of these 
things, without which not one of the lost family of Adam could 
be saved; but since he suffered these things; and opened this 
channel of salvation, it is the glorious privilege of all mankind 
to look to Christ and be saved. "Look unto me and be ye saved 
all the ends of the earth." Isa. 45:22. 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT, 

IN WHICH WE CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE PURPOSE OF 
ELECTION. 

I WILL now present some of the trials of some of God's elect, 
in which we catch a glimpse of the purpose of election. 

God's election is not so much in favor of the few chosen as in 
the interest of ths teeming millions of lost souls. On the list 
of the elect we will first consider Moses. Did God elect him 
just to make him happy? Did God take him to his bosom, and 
say be happy Moses, and enjoy all the pleasures of the celestial 
paradise? Nay, verily, God saw the oppression of Abraham's 
posterity, and he ordained Moses to lead them out from under 
that galling yoke of Egyptian bondage, to be a co-laborer with 
God in the interest, in the delivery, in the happiness of six hun- 
dred thousand of the children of Israel. 

Moses had a hard time in the wilderness, but he knew God, 
and he knew that God would reward him after awhile for all his 
trials and disappointments with the Israelites. He had led the 
Israelites out of Egypt to an encampment designated by the 
Lord, and they looked back toward Egypt, and saw Pharoah, 
his chariots, his horsemen, and his captains, and they were 
afraid and murmured at Moses, and asked him if there were no 
graveyards in Egypt that he should take them into the wilder- 
ness to die? Moses told them to stand still, and see the salva- 
tion of the Lord, that they would never see that Egyptian army 
again. God moved a cloud over behind the Israelites to hide 
them from the Egyptians. And God told Moses to say to the 
children of Israel to go forward, and for him to lift up his staff 
and stretch his hand over the sea. The waters opened and the 
Israelites marched through on dry land, and Pharoah's host at- 
tempted to follow them through the sea; but their chariot wheels 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 33 

came off and their chariots drug- heavy, and in this confusion 
God directed Moses to again stretch his hand over the sea, and 
when he did this the waters came tog-ether and drowned Pha- 
roah's host. 

Moses led the Israelites three days in the wilderness, and they 
found no water till they came to Marah, and there the water 
was bitter and they could not drink it. Then they murmured 
ag-ainst Moses ag-ain, saying-, "What shall we drink?" And the 
Lord showed Moses a tree to put in the water to make it sweet. 
Then they drank it. And the Lord said unto Israel, "If thou 
wilt diligently hearken unto the voice of the Lord, thy God, and 
will do that which is rig-ht in his sig-ht, and wilt give ear to his 
commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of 
these diseases upon you which I have broug-ht upon the Egypt- 
ians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee. And they came to 
Elim where there were twelve wells of water, and three score 
and ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters." 
Ex. 15:26, 27. 

Moses then led them in the wilderness of sin, where they be- 
came hungry and murmered at Moses and Aaron, and said, 
"Would to God we had died at the hand of the Lord in the land 
of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots; and when we did eat 
bread to the full, for you have broug-ht us forth into this wilder- 
ness to kill the whole assembly with hung-er." Ex. 6:1-3. 

Then God in his loving- kindness sent manna for bread, and 
quails for meat to these hungry and murmuring- Jews. And 
they journeyed from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to 
compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people was much 
discouiag-ed because of the way. And the people spoke against 
God, and ag-ainst Moses: Wherefore have ye broug-ht us up 
out of Eg-ypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, 
neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light 
bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and 
they bit the people; and much of the people of Israel died. 
Therefore the people came to Moses and said: We have sinned, 
for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee; pray unto 
the Lord to take away the serpents from us; and Moses prayed 
for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a 
fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass 
that every one that is bitten, when he shall look upon it shall 
live. Moses did as the Lord commanded, and the people were 
healed. 

The Israelites provoked Moses and Aaron so much, and so 
often, that they rebelled against God; for which God would not 
permit them to enter the land He had promised Abraham, and 
his posterity. 

Aaron died, and Eleazer was appointed priest in his stead. 
God spoke kindly to Moses, and told him that he should never 
enter "the promised land, but should be gathered to his people. 



34 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

And the Lord said to Moses take the rod, and gather thou the 
assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye 
unto the rock, before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, 
and thou shall bring- forth to them water out of the rock, so thou 
shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. But Moses 
and Aaron, instead of speaking to the rock, as God had com- 
manded them, they rebelled against God, and took the honor to 
themselves by striking the rock, and addressing the Israelites as 
rebels, and saying, come now, and see if we will not give you 
water, arrogating to themselves honor that belonged to God. 
This may seem at first view a very slight offense; but God was 
leading the Israelites and was entitled to the honor, while Moses 
and Aaron were simply the instruments that God had chosen to 
accomplish the deliverance of the Israelites. Man is not entitled 
to honor for what God does through him as an instrument; and 
God is a jealous God and allows no fallen man to share his hon- 
ors. Although Moses and Aaron were God's chosen men, and 
ordained of him to do the work they did, they were entitled to no 
honor, for it was God working- in and through them to accomplish 
that which He intended. He punished them severely because 
they attempted to divide the honor with him. God suffers his 
elect to do wrong, but never fails to punish them for it. 

The Levites were a chosen nation of priests to serve in the 
temple of the living God, to stand between the people and God 
and to offer sacrifices unto God for the sins of the people, which 
offerings were typical of Christ, the great sacrifice that was to 
be made for the sins of the Adamic family. These priests were 
the servants of God and servants of the people also. Co-labor- 
ers with God in preparing the minds of the people, and opening 
up the way for the final salvation of mankind. 

The prophets were elected and appointed prophets in the be- 
ginning; for God said to Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in 
the belly I knew thee, and before thou earnest forth out of the 
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the 
nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak, 
for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, say not I am a 
child; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and what- 
soever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of 
their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 
Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And 
the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy 
mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over 
the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, 
and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Jer. 1:5-10. 

Thus we see that God appointed the prophets for a great pur- 
pose, and qualified them for the same. They were co-laborers 
with God working for the salvation of men, for the everlasting 
salvation of a lost world of Adamic posterity. They preached 
the words that God put in their mouths; they kept before the 



SUFFERINGS OF Till-: ELECT, 35 

minds of the people the coming- of Christ, who was to save His 
people. They told of His power, of His humiliation, and of His 
sufferings. God, our loving-, Heavenly Father, never called the 
prophets just to g-ive them comfort, pleasure, and ease in this 
world; but he ordained them to labor and toil; they were to keep 
God and His great power, and his loving- kindness before the 
people, serving- as. teachers to bring- them to Christ. They had 
their troubles and trials in the world as well as Moses and Aaron. 
And they were not always willing- to do what God wanted them 
to do. See Jonah, for instance, when God told him to g-o to the 
great city of Nineveh, and cry, yet forty clays and Nineveh 
shall be overthrown. Instead of obeying- he thoug-ht of trying 
to hide from God. He boarded a vessel going to Tarshish; and 
there came a storm and Jonah was thrown overboard; and God 
had provided a great fish to swallow him, and he was three days 
and three nig-ht in the fish's belly. He then cried earnestly to 
God, and the fish carried him to the shore and vomited him out 
upon the coast. Then he went to Nineveh, like a subdued serv- 
ant, or child, and delivered the messag-e that God had put in his 
mouth. Jonah had a hard time in the world, even thoug-h he 
was one of God's elect. 

Old Father Elijah must have been down pretty low in spirit 
when he made intercession to God, and said: "The}^have killed 
all thy prophets, and dug- down thine altars, and I alone am 
left, and they seek my life." He must have suffered in mind, 
for he did not know what day that he, too, would be slain by 
the wicked Jews, as the other prophets had been. But God in- 
formed him that He had at that time seven thousand who had 
not bowed the knee to the imag-e of Baal. They were his by 
election. Seven thousand of that one hundred and forty-four 
thousand. They may have been only lay members to aid in the 
development of Christ's kingdom. All we are sure about them 
is that they constituted a part of the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand elect. 

Next we come to the twelve apostles, who like Moses, Aaron, 
Eleazer, and the rest of the priests and prophets, were of God 
foreknown, called, predestinated, justified, and glorified from 
before the foundation or the world. They were given of God to 
the Word to accompany Him on the earth, while He was taking 
man's place, becoming a substitute for sinful men; fulfilling the 
moral law for the wicked, fallen men and women, and receiving 
our stripes, our wounds and our bruises, and our condemnation. 
These apostles were given him to be with him as witnesses, to 
be taught of him his doctrines, and his spirit, to be his co-la- 
borers in the salvation of fallen men and women. They were 
to preach His gospel. He commanded them, saying: "Go ye 
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; and 
he that believeth and is saved, shall be baptized." I am aware 
that the words are arranged a little different in the above quo- 



36 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

tation to what they are in the common translation; but the Bible 
is a very large book, and written by various inspired writers, in 
the Hebrew, Greek and other languages; and this writing run- 
ning through a period of hundreds of years; and left in different 
hands in various countries, and was without chapters, para- 
graphs, verses and punctuation marks; hence we see what a great 
undertaking to gather together all these manuscripts, and trans- 
late them into English as we find our present Bible. A great 
deal depended upon the education, and judgment of the trans- 
lators, who were uninspired men, and it is a well known fact 
they made many mistakes in translating. For example, take 
the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, in which we find a de- 
plorable blunder. In the second verse Christ said to his disciples, 
"There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall 
not be thrown down." 

Referring to the destruction of Jerusalem: Then in the third 
verse His disciples asked Him when these things should be, and 
also what should be the sign of His coming, and of the end of 
the world. Here the translators mix up the answers to the two 
direct questions in such a wa} T as to make Christ's answer a 
falsehood, but we know that Jesus never told anything but the 
truth; therefore, we know that the translators never placed these 
verses as Christ intended they should be placed. As the trans- 
lators have mixed up Christ's answers they make Him say that 
many shall come, and claim to be Christ, and deceive mam^; and 
that they should hear of wars, and rumors of wars, and that na- 
tion should rise up against nation, and kingdom against king- 
dom; and that there should be famines, pestilence, and earth- 
quakes in divers places; and then, in the thirty-fourth verse, He 
says: "Verily, I say unto you this generation shall not pass 
till all these things be fulfilled." That generation passed away 
about eighteen hundred years ago, and the end has not come 
yet; neither did that generation see the wonderful things that 
Christ said should come to pass. Yet, everything that Christ 
spoke was true. This chapter has bothered many minds; and, 
reader, if you have been among the number, this cloud may now dis- 
appear. Let us give the answers to the two questions separately, 
taking the last question first: "What shall be the sign of Thy 
coming and the end of the world?" We will commence the an- 
swer with the fourth verse, and number the verses as they occur 
in the Bible, and you will see that we get a clear and satisfactory 
answer, and you will also see that they were erroneously placed 
in the Bible. 4. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, 
Take heed that no man deceive you. 5. For many shall come 
in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. 6. 
And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars; see that ye be 
not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end 
is not yet. 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and king- 
dom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pesti- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 37 

lences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8. All these are the 
beginning- of sorrows. 9. Then shall they deliver you up to be 
afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations 
for luv name's sake. 10. And then shall many be offended, and 
shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11. And 
many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12. 
And because iniquity- shall abound the love of many shall wax 
cold. 13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same 
shall be saved. 14. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and 
then shall the end come. [Notice the skip.] 23. Then if any 
man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it 
not. 24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false proph- 
ets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if 
it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25. Behold! 
I have told } t ou before. 26. Wherefore if they shall say unto 
\-ou, Behold! He is in the desert, go not forth; behold, He is in 
the secret chambers; believe it not. 27. For as the lightning 
cometh out of the East, and shineth even to the West, so shall 
also the coming- of the Son of man be. 28. For wheresoever 
the carcass is, there will the eagles be g-athered together. 29. 
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be 
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars 
shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of the Heavens shall be 
shaken. 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
man in Heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
of Heaven with power and great glory. 31. And He shall send 
His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather 
together His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to 
the other. 32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree, when his 
branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves ye know that sum- 
mer is nigh. 33. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these 
things, know that it is near, even at the doors. [Notice skip.] 
35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not 
pass away. 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man; 
no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only. 37. But as 
the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man 
be. 38. For as in the days that were before the flood they 
were eating and drinking, manning, and giving in marriage, 
until the day that Noah entered into the ark. 39. And knew 
not till the flood came, and took them away; so shall also the 
coming of the Son of Man be. [Skip.] 42. Watch, therefore, 
for you know not what hour } T our Lord doth come. 43. But 
know this, that if the good man of the house had known in 
what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and 
would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44. There- 
fore, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the 
Son of Man cometh. 45. Who then is a faithful, and a wise 



38 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to 
give them meat in due season? 46. Blessed is that servant 
whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing-. 47. Ver- 
ily I say unto you, that He shall make him ruler over all his 
goods. 48. But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, 
My Lord delay eth His coming-; and shall begin to smite his 
fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50. 
The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh 
not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of. 51. And 
shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the 
hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

We will now arrange the answer to the first question: "Tell 
us when shall these things be?" (meaning, when shall Jerusa- 
lem be destro} r ed?) 15. When ye, therefore, shall see the 
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
stand in the holy place; (whoso readeth, let him understand). 

16. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. 

17. Let him which is on the house top not come down to take 
anything out of his house. 18. Neither let him which is in the 
field reHurn back to take his clothes. 19. And woe unto them 
that are with child, and unto them that give suck in those days! 
20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither 
on the Sabbath Da}\ 21. For then shall be great tribulation, 
such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time; 
no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except those days should be 
shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's 
sake those days shall be shortened. [Skip.] 40. Then shall 
two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. 
41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be 
taken and the other left. 34. Verily I say unto you, this 
generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." 

Now, reader, does this not satisfy you that these verses were 
incorrectly arranged in this chapter? Likewise were the words 
misplaced in Mark 16:16. It is more in harmony with the rest 
of Christ's teachings to say, he that beliveth and is saved shall 
be baptized, than to say he that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved, from the fact that we are taught by a number of 
Scriptures that whosoever believeth shall be saved. 

Christ commanded the apostles to go teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father and and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. They went at it. Paul was brought in in 
the place of Judas Iscariot, which was intended from the begin- 
ning; this is clear from His words, "'According as He hath 
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." Fph. 
1:4. They went out and preached the Gospel in the power and 
demonstration of the Spirit. But they met with fearful opposi- 
tion. 

Peter was a most faithful apostle, a splendid missionary. He 
preached the Gospel in various countries, to thousanks of peo- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 39 

pie. He tried to get them to come to repentance, and to a 
knowledge of the Truth as it is in Jesus. He had faith in his 
Lord and Master. Once when he saw Christ walking- on the 
water he asked if he might do so too; when our Saviour bade 
him do it he started, but saw the rolling billows and heard the 
howling wind, and perhaps thought of the depth of the sea, etc., 
then his faith wavered and he began to sink; but notwithstand- 
ing his wavering he still had faith in Christ, and said: "Lord 
save, or I perish!" 

On one occasion in consequence of some of Christ's sayings, 
many of His professed followers turned away from Him. When 
He said to those still with Him, "Will ye also go away?" Peter 
answered: "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of 
eternal life." Again, when Jesus came into the courts of Cesa- 
rea Phillippi he asked his disciples saying, Whom do men say 
that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that Thou 
art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one of 
the prophets. He saith unto them, Whom say ye that I am? 
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God." Mat. 16:13-16. We see that he was a 
man of strong faith always abounding in the work of the Lord. 
When he was old he went to Rome. I suppose he wanted to see 
Paul, and, also, help in the work of God at that place. Nero, 
the emperor, ordered Peter and Paul arrested. Ambrose tells 
us that when the people perceived the danger to which Peter 
was now exposed, they prayed him to quit Rome, and repair for 
awhile to some safe retreat, that his life might be preserved for 
the benefit of the Church. He with great reluctance yielded 
to their entreaties and made his escape by night; and as he 
passed the gate he was met by a person in the form of his great 
and loved Master; and as Peter asked Him where He was going, 
said: "To Rome, to be crucified a second time," which Peter, 
taking for a reproof of his cowardice, returned again into the 
city, and was soon after apprehended and cast, together with 
St. Paul, into the Maratime prison. Here they were confined 
eight or nine months, but spent their time in the exercise of re- 
ligion, especially preaching to the prisoners, and those who re- 
sorted to them. During this confinement it is generally sup- 
posed that Peter wrote his second epistle to the dispersed Jews 
in which he endeavored to comfort them in the belief and prac- 
tice of Christianit} 7 ; and to fortify them against those poisonous 
and pernicious principles and actions, which even then began to 
break in upon the churches. 

Nero at last returning from Achai entered Rome in triumph; 
and soon after his arrival resolved that the apostles should fall 
victims, and sacrifices to his cruelties and revenge. Accordingly 
Peter and Paul were both condemned by this wicked emperor of 
Rome. Peter, having bid farewell to the brethren, and espe- 
cially to Paul, was taken from the prison, and was led to the top 



40 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

of the Vatican Mount, near the Tiber, where he was sentenced to 
surrender up his life on the cross. When he arrived at the place 
of execution he begged the officers to crucify him with his head 
down, affirming- that he* was unworthy to suffer in the same pos- 
ture in which his Lord had died before him. This request was 
granted and thus the great apostle Peter gave up his soul into 
the hands of his blessed Lord, who came down from Heaven to 
ransom mankind from destruction, and open for them the gates 
of the heavenly Canaan. It is said that his body was taken down 
from the cross and embalmed by Cermellimus, after the manner 
of the Jews; and then buried in the Vatican near the Appian 
way, two miles from Rome. 

Paul, that grand apostle of the Gentiles, who was chosen of 
God before the foundation of the world, who was predestinated 
unto the adoption of sonship, has manifested his character, and 
purpose of mind and heart in his second epistle and fourth chap- 
ter to the Corinthians. Hear him: "Therefore seeing we have 
this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have 
renounced the hiden things of dishonesty, not walking in craf- 
tiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by mani- 
festation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God. But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid 
to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world 'hath 
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of 
the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should 
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus 
the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God 
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined 
in our hearts; to give the light of the knowledge of the glor}- 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure 
in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, 
and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; 
we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not for- 
saken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in 
the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus 
might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are al- 
ways delivered unto death for Jesus' sake; that the life also of 
Jesus Christ might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So 
then death worketh in us, but life in you. We, having the same 
spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed and there- 
fore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak, knowing 
that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall also raise up us by 
Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for 
your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanks- 
giving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause 
we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the in- 
ward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which 
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which 



SUFFERINGS OF 7HE ELECT. 41 

are soon, but at the things which are unseen; for the things 
which are seen are temporal; but the thing's which are not seen 
are eternal.' 1 In the first verse of the next chapter we have an 
expression of his wonderful faith. "For we know that if our 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a build- 
ing of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the Heav- 
ens." 

We will now take a view of the sufferings and trials of this 
chosen, called, foreordained, elected, justified and glorified 
apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will give it to you from 
his own pen: "Are the}^ ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) 
I am more, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, 
in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times 
received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with 
rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and 
a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils 
of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own country- 
men, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false breth- 
ren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hun- 
ger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Be- 
sides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me 
daily, the care of all the churches." 2 Cor. 11:23-28. 

When he g*ained his liberty in Rome he wrote his epistle to 
the Hebrews; and having finished his work in Rome He took 
Timothy, and went into Spain and probably crossed the sea, 
and went into Britain, and preached the Gospel, and in eight or 
nine months came back to Rome and met Peter; and were both 
cast into prison, and after some months he was executed by the 
cruel Nero. Some writers say he was beheaded, while others 
say that he was crucified with his head downward, like Peter. 
At any rate he died a death shocking to mankind, but died in 
triumph, realizing that he had fought a good fight, that he 
had kept the faith, that he had finished his course, that hence- 
iorth there was a crown of righteousness laid up for him, which 
the Lord, the righteous judge would give him at that day. He 
bade farewell to the world, and yielded up his soul to his 
blessed Lord, whom he had so faithfully served, even unto death. 

ANDREW. 
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, we are told by historians, 
was chosen to preach the Gospel in Scythia and neighboring 
countries. Accordingly he set out from Jerusalem, and traveled 
through Cappadocia, Gallatia, and Bithynia, instructing the in- 
habitants in the faith of Christ, continuing his journey along 
the Enxine Sea, into the deserts of Sc} T thia. We are told that 
he made many converts at Amisus; and settled the times of their 
public meetings; and ordained them pastors. He went then to 
Traphezium, on the Enxine Sea, and after visiting many other 



42 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

places he came to Nice, where he stayed two years, preaching" 
and working- miracles with great success. He then went to 
Nicomectia, and thence to Chalcedon, whence he sailed through 
the metropolis, and came by the Knxine Sea to Heraclea, thence 
to Amostries. In all these places he met with the greatest dif- 
ficulties; but with his invincible patience, courage and faith, he 
overcame them. He next came to Sinope, where he met his 
brother Peter, and stayed with him a long - time. The people of 
Sinope w re mostly Jews, who partly from their zeal for their 
religion, and partly from their barbarous manners, were exas- 
perated against Andrew, and entered into a conspiracy to burn 
the house in which he lodged, but being foiled in that they 
treated him with the most savage cruelty. The}^ dashed him 
upon the ground and stamped him with their feet. They pulled 
and drug him from place to place, some beating him with clubs, 
and some pelting him with stones; and yet others to gratify their 
beastly revenge, bit off his flesh with their teeth, continuing 
this barbarous treatment till they supposed his life gone; they 
then cast him out into the fields. But he miraculously recovered 
and returned into the city publicly. By this and many other 
miracles, wrought by himself, many were convinced of the power 
of his God, and were converted, and became disciples of the 
blessed Jesus. Departing from Sinope he went to Jerusalem, 
stayed a short while, and returned to the country assigned him. 
He traveled over Trace, Macedonia, Thessalonica, and Kpiras, 
preaching the Gospel, confirming the doctrines he taught with 
signs and miracles. At last he came to Petrea (a country of 
Achai) where he gave his last and greatest testimony to the 
Gospel of his divine Master, sealing it with his blood. Aegenas 
(proconsul of Achai) came at this time to Petrea, and observing 
that multitudes had abandoned the heathen religion, and had 
embraced the Gospel of Christ, he had recourse to every method 
both of favor and of cruelty to get the people back to their old 
idolatry. The apostles, whom no difficulties nor dangers could 
deter from performing the duties of his ministry, addressed him- 
self to the proconsul, calmly putting him in mind that he (the 
proconsul) being only a judge of men, he ought never judge Him 
who was the supreme and impartial judge of all. Furthermore 
told him that if he would denounce his idolatn T , and embrace 
the Lord Jesus that he would be made eternally happy, in the 
Messiah's kingdom. The proconsul answered that he should 
never embrace the religion of Christ: and that the only reason 
that he was so anxious for him (Andrew) to sacrifice to the 
heathen gods was that those whom Andrew had seduced might 
b^y h's example be induced to come back to the ancient religion 
that they had forsaken. Andrew told him that he might act as 
he pleased regarding himself (Andrew), and that if he had any 
torment greater than another that he might heap that upon 
him, for the greater constancy he showed in his sufferings for 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 43 

Christ the more acceptable he would be to his Lord and Master. 
Aegenas, after threatening" him with very opprobrious language, 
passed sentence upon him that he should be put to death. He 
ordered that he should first be scourged, and seven lictors suc- 
cessively whipped his naked back; seeing - his invincible patience 
and constancy he commanded that he should be crucified, but 
that he should be fastened to the cross with cords instead of 
nails, that his death might be more lingering-, tedious and tor- 
menting. When Andrew came to the cross he saluted it as fol- 
lows: 4t I have long expected and desired this happy hour. The 
cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it, 
and adorning it with His members as with so many inestimable 
jewels. I therefore come joyfulty and triumphantly to it, that 
it may receive me as a follower of Him who once hung upon it; 
and be the means of carrying" me safely to my Master, being the 
instrument on which he redeemed me." After offering up his 
prayer to God, and exhorting the people to constancy, and per- 
severance in the faith that he had delivered to them, he was 
fastened to the cross, on which he hung two whole days, teach- 
ing the people in the best manner his wretched condition would 
admit, being so weak sometimes that he could scarcely utter a 
word. In the meantime great interest was taken in him and 
the proconsul was petitioned to spare his life, but the apostle 
begged Almighty God that he might now depart, and seal the 
truth of his religion with his blood. His prayers were heard 
and answered. He expired on the last day of November, } 7 ear 
uncertain. His body being taken down from the cross was de- 
cently and honorably interred by Maximilla, a lady of great 
quality and estate, and who Nicephomus tells us, was the wife 
of the proconsul. My heart says God bless that good woman, 
and all her sort, for such must be remembered in mercy. 

JAMES, THE GREATER. 

James, the greater, was a favorite apostle with Christ. He 
took him, Peter and John with him when he went to raise 
Jairus' daughter from the dead. He was admitted to Christ's 
glorious transfiguration on the mount, and when Christ was to 
undergo His bittter agonies in the garden, as preparatory suff- 
ering to His passion, he was one of the three present. Sphronias 
says that after the ascension of Christ this apostle preached to 
the dispersed Jews. 

The Spanish writers tell us that after preaching the Gospel 
in several parts of Judea and Samaria, he visited Spain, where 
he planted Christianity, and then apointed some elect disciples 
to perfect the work that he had begun. 

Herod Agrippa I, who was a bigot, as touching the Jewish 
religion, as well as being desirous of the favor of the Jews, be- 
gan a violent persecution of the Christians A. D.,44; and his 
zeal animated him to pass sentence of death upon James. As 



44 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

he was led to the place of execution it is said that the officer who 
g-uarded him to his accusser, having* been converted by the re- 
markable courag-e and constancy of the apostle during- his trial, 
repented of what he had done, and went and fell down at the 
apostle's feet and heartily beg-g-ed pardon for what he had said 
ag-ainst him. 

This holy apostle, after recovering- from the surprise, ten- 
derly embraced him, and said, Peace my son, peace be unto thee, 
and pardon of thy faults. Upon which the officer publicly de- 
clared himself a Christian; and they were both beheaded at the 
same time. Thus fell the great apostle James, taking- cheer- 
fully that of which he he had long- since told his Lord he was 
ready to drink. 

JOHN, THE EVANGELIST. 

John, the Evang-elist, like Peter and James, was selected by 
our Savior to be with Him in all the important events of His 
life, thoug-h shocked when the Master was apprehended, and 
fled for a little while, but soon returned, and followed Christ 
throug-h all of his mock trial; and acknowledg-ed him in the pres- 
ence of the armed mob, and the Savior also acknowedg-ed him, 
and placed Mary, his mother, in his care. 

After the ascension of Christ James remained about fifteen 
years in Jerusalem, until Mary (the mother of Jesus) died. The 
apostles made a division of the province among- themselves, and 
that of Proconsular Asia fell to the share of John, therevelator; 
and when he had filled the charg-e of his Master in taking- care 
of Mary, the mother of Jesus, he then repaired to the field as- 
signed him, and industriously applied himself to the propaga- 
tion of Christianity; preaching- where the Gospel has not been 
known, and confirming- Christians where it had already been 
introduced. Many churches of eminence were of his founding-, 
particularly those of Smyrna, Perg-amos, Thyatira, Sardis, Phil- 
adelphia, Laodicea, and others. His chief place of residence 
was at Kphesus, where Paul had many years before founded a 
church. After spending many years at Ephesus he was accused 
to Domitian as an eminent asserter of atheism and impiety 
and a public subverter of the religion of the empire. So that 
by his command the proconsul sent him bound to Rome, where 
he met with such treatment asmig-hthave been expected from so 
barbarous a prince. He was thrown, (according- to Tertullian) into 
a caldron of boiling- oil; but the Almig-hty restrained the heat, 
as He did in the furnace of old, and delivered him from this un- 
seemingiy unavoidable destruction. Yet the cruel emperor was 
not satisfied, so he ordered him transported to an almost deso- 
late island in the Archipelag-o, called Patmos, where he contin- 
ued several years, instructing- the poor inhabitants in the knowl- 
edge of the Christian faith. Here he wrote his book of Revela- 
tion, exhibiting- ■ by visions and prophetical representations the 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 45 

state and condition of Christianity in the future ages of the 
church. This was about the end of Domitian's reign, so upon 
his death, and the succession of Nero, A. D. 95, who repealed all 
the odious acts of his predecessors and by public edicts recalled 
those whom the fury of Domitian had banished. John returned 
to Asia, and fixed his seat again at Ephesus. There rather be- 
cause the people of that city had lately martyred Timothy. 
Here in the best manner that the circumstances of those times 
would admit he spent his time in an indefatigable execution of 
his charge. Traveling from east to west, through Asia Minor, 
to instruct the people in the principles of his holy religion, 
which he was sent to propagate. In this manner John contin- 
ued to labor in the vineyard of his Master, until death put an 
end to all his toils and sufferings. He died in the ninety-eighth 
year of his age; and he was (according to Eusebius) buried near 
Ephesus. 

Phillip, the apostle, had assigned to him as his field of labor 
upper Asia, where he worked with indefatigable industry and 
diligence. By the constancy and power of his preaching, and 
the efficacy of his miracles, he gained numerous converts whom 
he baptized into the Christian faith, curing at once their bodies 
of distempers and infirmities, and their souls of errors and idol- 
atry. 

He continued with them a considerable time, in settling 
churches and appointing them guides and ministers of religion. 
After exercising his apostolical office several years in all those 
parts, he came at last to Heirapolis Phrygia, a city remarkably 
rich and populous, but overrun with the most unreasonable 
idolatry. Phillip grieved to see the people so wretchedly en- 
slaved by error and superstition, continually offered his ad- 
dresses to Heaven, till, by his prayers, calling on the name of 
Jesus, he procured the death, or, at least, the disappearing, of an 
enormous serpent, which these people worshipped. Having 
thus demolished their deity, he proceeded to show them how 
ridiculous and unjust it was for them to pay divine honors to 
such odious creatures; he showed them that God alone was to be 
worshipped as the great parent of all the world; who in the be- 
ginning made man after His own glorious image; and when 
fallen from that innocent and happy state sent His own Son into 
the world to redeem him; and that His Son, in order to perform 
this glorious work, died on the cross and rose from the dead, 
and at the end of the world would come again to raise all the 
sons of men from the chambers of dust, and sentence them to 
everlasting rewards or punishment. This aroused them from 
their lethargy, and many were ashamed of their idolatry, and 
great numbers embraced "the doctrines of Christ. This provoked 
the enemy of mankind and he had recourse to his old methods, 
cruelty and persecution. The magistrates seized the apostle, 
and had him scourged and thrown into prison, and was after- 



46 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

ward led to execution. His body was taken down by His fel- 
low laborer, St. Bartholomew, and Marianne, St. Phillip's sis- 
ter, and was decently buried. 

Bartholomew, sometimes called Nathaniel, was a son of Ptol- 
emy, a Gallilean. He preached in many places and penetrated as 
far as Hether, India, and after spending- considerable time in India 
and the Eastern extremities of Asia, he returned to the North- 
ern and Western parts of that country; and we find him at Heir- 
apolis with Phillip, and it was designed that he should be 
mart}^red with him, and was fastened to a cross for thas pur- 
pose, but it is said that their consciences pricked them, and 
they took him down and gave him his liberty. Whence he re- 
tired to Iyyconia and Chrysostom. One of the ancient writers 
assures us that he instructed and trained up the inhabitants in 
the Christian religion. His last removal was to Albanople, in 
great Armenia, a place miserably overrun with idolatry. He 
labored earnestly to bring- this people to a knowledge of Christ, 
and this provoked the magistrates, who prevailed upon the gov- 
ernor to put him to death. He cheerfully submitted, sealing 
the truth of the doctrine he had preached with his blood. 

St. Matthew was sitting- in his office when Jesus passed by, 
and called him to follow Him. He was rich, and had a money- 
making- employment. He was a wise and prudent man, and 
doubtless understood that it would be his financial loss to com- 
ply with the call of Christ. He was not ignorant that he would 
have to exchang-e wealth for poverty, a custom house for a 
prison, and rich and exalted masters for a naked and despised 
Savior; but he overlooked all those considerations and left all 
his earthly interests and relations to become our Lord's disci- 
ple, and embrace a more spiritual way of life. After Matthew's 
election to the apostleship he continued with the rest till the as- 
cension of his beloved Master. The next eig-ht years after the 
ascension he preached the Gospel in different parts of Judea, 
and afterward left Palestine to preach to the Gentile world. 
Before he left he was entreated by the Jewish converts to write 
the history of the blessed Jesus, and leave it among- them as a 
standing- monument of what he had so often delivered to them 
in his sermons, which request was readily granted. After leav- 
ing- Judea he traveled in several parts, especially in Ethiopia, 
and after laboring- indefatig-ably in the Master's vinej^ard he 
suffered martyrdom in a city of Ethiopia, called Naddubar, but 
by what kind of death it is not absolutely known, thoug-h it is 
the g-eneral opinion that he was slain with a halberd. 

St. Thomas, as well as the rest, preached the Gospel in dif- 
ferent parts of Judea, and after the dispersion of the Christian 
Church at Jerusalem repaired into Parthia, the province as- 
signed him for his ministry, after which he preached to the 
Medes, Persians, Hyrcani, Bactartans and the neighboring na- 
tions. During his preaching in Persia it is said that he met 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 47 

with and baptized the magi, or wise men, who had taken the 
Long journey at the birth of Christ in order to worship Him. He 
also took them along with Him as His companions and asso- 
ciates in propagating- the Gospel. Leaving- Persia he traveled 
into Ethiopia preaching the glad tidings of the Gospel, healing 
their sick and working other miracles to prove that he had his 
commission from on hig-h. After traveling through these coun- 
tries He entered India. When the Portuguese first visited 
these countries, after their discovery of a passway by the Cape 
of Good Hope, they received the following- particulars, partly 
from constant and uncontroverted traditions preserved by the 
Christians in those parts. That St. Thomas came first to So- 
cotoro, an island in the Arabian sea, and then to Crangaria, 
where, having converted many from the error of their way, he 
traveled farther East, and having successfully preached the 
Gospel, returned to the kingdom of Coromandel, where at Mat- 
tapour, the metropolis of that kingdom, he began to erect a 
place for divine service, but was prevented by the idolatrous 
priests and Sagamo, prince of that country; but after perform- 
ing - several miracles the work was permitted to proceed, and Sa- 
gamo himself embraced the Christian religion, and his example 
was soon followed by numbers of his friends and subjects. This 
remarkable success alarmed the Brahmins, who plainly per- 
ceived that their religion would soon be extirpated unless some 
method could be found that would put a stop to the progress 
of Christianity. The} 7 , therefore, resolved to put the apostle 
to death. A short distance from the city was a tomb, whither 
Thomas often repaired for private devotion. Hither the Bra- 
mins and their armed followers pursued him, and while he was 
praying shot him w T ith a shower of darts, after which one of the 
priests ran a lance through his body. He was buried by his 
disciples in the Church he had lately erected. 

Chrysostom sa} 7 s: "St. Thomas, who was at first the weakest 
and most incredulous of all the apostles, became by Christ's 
condescension to satisfy his scruples, and the power of divine 
grace, the most active and invincible of them all; traveling- over 
most parts of the world, living without fear amongst barbarous 
nations, through the efficiency of that almighty power which 
can make the weakest vessel perform acts of the greatest diffi- 
culty and moment. 

JAMES THE LESS. 

St. James the less, bishop or pastor, at Jerusalem, performed 
every part of his duty with every possible care and industry, 
omitting no particular necessary to be observed by a faithful 
and diligent guide of souls; strengthening the weak, instruct- 
ing the ignorant, reproving the obstinate, and by the constancy 
of his sermons conquering the stubbornness of that perverse and 
refractory generation with which he had to deal. Many of the 



48 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

nobler and better class were persuaded to embrace the Christian 
faith. But one so faithful and successful in his charge could 
not fail to excite the hate and malice of his enemies, who were a 
sort of men to whom the apostle has given a true character. 
They please not God, and are contrary to all men. They were 
vexed to see that Paul had escaped their hands by appealing- to 
Caesar and, therefore, turned their fury against James; but being- 
unable to effect their desig-n under the g-overnment of Festus 
they determined to attempt it under the procuratorship of Albi- 
nus, his successor. Ananias, the young-er of the sect of the 
Saducees, was hig-h priest. In order to carry out their plan a 
council was summoned, and the apostles and others were ar- 
raigned, and condemned as violators of the law, but that the 
act might appear more plausible and popular the scribes and 
Pharisees, who were masters in the art of dissimulation, endeav- 
ored to ensnare him. The apostle was advantageously placed 
on a pinnacle of the temple, and they addressed him as follows: 
"Tell us what is the instruction of the crucified Jesus?" To 
which the apostle answered with an audible voice: "Why do 
ye inquire of Jesus, the Son of man? He sits in Heaven at the 
right hand of the Majesty on high, and will come again in the 
clouds of Heaven/' The people below hearing this, they glori- 
fied Jesus, and openly proclaimed hosannah to the Son of David. 
The Scribes and Pharisees now perceived that they had acted 
foolishly, so they then cried out saying that Jesus was an im- 
postor, and threw the apostle from the pinnacle of the temple; 
but not being killed outright he recovered enough to get on his 
knees and pray fervently for his murderers, but malice is too 
diabolical to be pacified by kindness, or satisfied with cruelty; 
hence, being vexed that they had not finished their work, they 
poured a shower of stones upon him while he was imploring 
their forgiveness at the throne of grace; and yet, one not satis- 
fied with this brutal treatment, seized a fuller's club and put an 
end to the misery of this servant of God. Thus did this great 
and good man finish his course in the ninety-second year of his 
age. This was about twenty-eight years after the Savior's as- 
cension. His death was lamented by all good men, even by the 
sober and the just among the Jews. Josephus himself says that 
he was a man of exemplary piety and devotion. Educated under 
the strictest rules and instructions of religion. Praj^er was his 
constant business and delight; he seems, as it were, to have 
lived upon it continually, and had his conversation in Heaven. So 
we see that he who has told us that "The prayer of a righteous 
man availeth much" proved it so in his own experience, Heaven 
lending a more immediate ear to his petitions, so that during a 
remarkable drought he prayed for rain, and the clouds melted 
into plentiful showers. Nor was his charity toward men less 
than his charity toward God; he did good to all, watched over 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 49 

the souls of men, and studied to advance their eternal welfare; 
of this his epistle is a living- monument. 

St. Simon, the Zealot, is styled in the catalogue of the apos- 
tles Simon the Canaanite. Some writers say he went into 
Egypt. Cyrene and Africa preaching- the Gospel in those remote 
and barren countries. Others add that after he passed throug-h 
these countries he took ship, and went into the frozen regions 
of the North, preaching- to the inhabitants of the Western 
parts, and even to Britain, where he converted great multitudes 
and sustained severe hardships and persecutions. He was at 
last crucified and buried in Great Britain. 

JUDE. 

St. Jude, the twelfth apostle of Jesus, started out to preach- 
ing- the Gospel in Judea and Galilee, then through Samaria 
into Idumea, and to the cities of Arabia, and the neighboring 
countries; and afterward to Syria and Mesipotamia. Nicepho- 
rus says that he came at last to Odessa, where Abagarus gov- 
erned, and Lhadeus, one of the seventy, had already sown the 
seeds of the Gospel. He then perfected what the others had 
begun, and by his sermons and miracles established the religion 
of Christ. He died in peace, says one man, while others say he 
was slain at Berytus, and was buried there. The writers of the 
Latin Church are unanimous in saying that he traveled into 
Persia, where, after great success in his apostolical ministry 
for many years, he was at last, for his freely and openly reprov- 
ing the superstitious rites and customs of the magi, cruelly put 
to death. 

Now, dear brethren, understand our position: God had three 
purposes in election and predestination: 

1. To give Christ as a sure portion one hundred and forty- 
four thousand souls. 

2. To compliment faithful Abraham. 

3. To make them co-laborers with God, in leading Israel, 
keeping Christ before the people, and in the general work of the 
salvation of a lost world of sinners. 

Christ is God's elect to save sinners; He tasted death for every 
man, for one man as well as for another, for God is no respecter 
of persons. Christ is a complete savior; He suffered in the world 
as a man for man, and as co-laborers with Him we must suffer, 
too. Moses, Aaron, Kleazer and all the priests suffered, 
and all the prophets suffered, while laboring with 
and for God, and just read and consider the lives of 
the apostles, their labors, their travels among the heathen 
and barbarous nations of the earth. They went and preached 
in every part of the then known world. They divided the world 
into twelve parts, each taking his field, and laboring faithfully 
to convert the world to the faith of the Lord Jesus. Eleven out 
of the twelve suffered martyrdom, and the twelfth, which was 



50 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

John, the Revelator, was cast into a caldron of boiling - oil, and 
would have been cooked in a few minutes had it not been for the 
restraining- power of God over the heat of the oil. When I consider 
the exposure of God's elected, chosen and predestinated people, 
their privation, labors, toils, disappointments, and hungering" and 
thirsting - ; and weariness and nakedness; and persecution and 
martyrdom, my heart shrinks within me, and I can better ex- 
press my feeling-s by a story of a wagoner. Some years ag-o 
Jim Wag-staff and others were hauling- cotton from Shelby 
county to Shreveport, when the weather became unusually cold; 
it sleeted and snowed, perhaps damag-ed their victuals, and wet 
their blankets, etc. After camping- for the nig-ht the prepara- 
tion to start next morning- was bitter. Wag-staff g-ot some of 
the ice off of his pull chain, then picked it up; it was inclined to 
stick to his hands; he thrust it down, shrug-g-ed his shoulders 
and said, while shaking- with cold: "Boys, if it were not for 
the honor of the thing-, I would as soon be a common man as a 
wag-oner this sort of weather." And I say if it were not for my 
!ove of souls, my desire for sinners to be saved, and for God's 
will to be done, I would as soon be a common sinner, saved by 
grace, as to be one of God's elect. 

Now, to the text, ninth verse, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a 
great.multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and 
kindreds, people, and tong-ues, stood before the throne and be- 
fore the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, 
and cried with a loud voice, saying - : 'Salvation to our God, 
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.' The white 
robes were emblematic of purity, and the palms in their hands 
emblematic of victory." Here is proof that God is no respecter 
of persons. 

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "I perceive of a truth 
God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fear- 
eth Him, and worketh rig-hteousness is accepted with Him." Acts 
10:34, 35. 

And Paul says, "Glory, honor and peace to every one that 
worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentiles, for 
there is no respect of persons with God." Rom. 2:10, 11. 

And ag-ain Paul says to the Kphesians, "And ye masters do 
the same thing's unto them, forbearing-, threatening-; knowing- also 
that your master is in Heaven, neither is there respect of per- 
sons with him." Kph. 6:9. 

And to the Colossians he said, "But he that doeth wrong 
shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no 
respect of persons." Col. 3:25. 

And Peter said, "If ye call on the Father, who without re- 
spect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the 
time of your sojourning here in fear." 1 Pet. 1:17. 

No wonder that that multitude was so great that no man 
could number them when we consider the liberal terms of salva- 



SUFFERINGS OF 77/ A" ELECT. 51 

tion, and see that God has offered it free, without money, and 
without price, but not without effort on the part of man. God 
commands and man must make an honest effort to obey, like 
the man who had the withered hand while Christ was on the 
earth. Christ commanded him to stretch it forth and he did so, 
and it was made whole. Mat. 12:13. Now if that man had been 
like some of the sinners of the present day, who have been taught 
by the Nicolaitan teachers, he would have said, YcanH, this hand 
is withered, and it is not subject to my will, hence his hand 
would not have been raised, and would not have been healed. 

Again to the text, "And one of the elders answered, saying 
unto me, "What are these which are arrayed in white robes, 
and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou know- 
est, and he said unto me: These are they which came out of 
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. 7:13, 14. 

We learn from this Scripture that sinners saved come through 
tribulations; that they have their trials, their crosses and their 
work to do. So then common sinners need not think that they 
can sail to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and feast their carnal 
appetites, all along- the journey, upon the deceptive food that 
the devil places before them at every station, while this great 
multitude foug-ht to win the prize, and sailed throug-h bloody 
seas. 

In order to redeem the world of mankind from under the con- 
demnator}^ sentence of the rig-hteous law of Almight} 7 - God, 
Christ, the beloved Son, left the high courts of Heaven, and 
came to this sin-cursed world, and took not upon himself the 
form of the pure and uprig-ht ang-els, but the form of man. Born 
of the virg-in Mary, made under the law, to redeem them that 
are under the law. To this end He bore the contradiction of 
sinners; He bore the stripes that were laid on Him; He was 
wounded and bruised for sinful man. Cruel man took a crown 
of thorns, and put it upon His pure, innoceut and tender head. 
In view of the suffering-s of the cross the tender Lamb of God 
was tried in his humanity, and prayed to the Father, "If it be 
possible let this cup pass, nevertheless not my will, but Thine 
be done. 1 ' All this was borne for sinful men and women. And 
God's chosen people, His elect, those that he chose to be co-la- 
borers with Him and Christ, to be the first fruits of God and the 
Lamb; that one hundred and forty-four thousand, who sang- the 
new song- that no other people could learn, were children of sor- 
row, and acquainted with grief. Just review the suffering-s of 
Moses, the priests, prophets and apostles, behold their blood and 
martyrdom! and then say if all the rest shall g-o free, never have 
a wave of trouble roll across their peaceful breast, and live in 
green fields of peace and joy, and bask under the smiles of a holy 
God, all of their stay upon earth. Nay, verily, for our text says 
that that great multitude which no man could number, of every 



52 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

nation and tongue, with white robes on. and palms in their 

hands, cam. nt \ gTeat tribulations. Many had sealed their 
faith with their blood. Yea. many of them suffered death: 
many suffere 1 the m st horrible death that could possibly be in- 
vented by ievils in human shells. Hence we conclude that all 
who have been, r .- ver will be saved, from the time of the fall 
of man in Eden tc the gTeat day of judgment, will come out of 
great tribulation. Not that tribulation will expiate the least of 
our sirs, for Christ has made a complete, and full atonement for 
the sins of the Adamic family. He tasted death for every man: 
He became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world; He 
kept the violated law; He magnified the law. and made it hon- 
orable: He suffered for our sins upon the cross; shed His own 
precious bl .1 that we mignt be cleansed from sin. 

"We see from the text that that great multitude that John saw 
not only came out of great tribulation, but that they had washed 
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
The Nicolaitans would have this part of the text rendered thus: 
"God washed their robes, and made them white in the bk 
the Lamb." To show that God does all. and that man does 
nothing-, only that which God had foreordained that he should 
1c before the foundation of the world. But I prefer the render- 
ing" by the Holy Spirit, for He tells the truth every time. And 
God said that he hated the doctrines of the Nicolaitans; then if I 
should follow them, and teach as they do. I should teach that 
- 1 hates. Then my earnest prayer is that I may be de- 
livered from any sympathy with the doctrines of the Nicolaitans. 
My earnest desire is to be in full sympathy with the Holy Spirit, 
and he said. "T : :: washed their robes.*' etc. It was not God 
that had done the washing, but they; thai great multitude that 
no man could number, had washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. This is a metaphor designed 
by the Holy Spirit tc portray to our minds the process required 
for our cleansing- and purification, before we are fit subjects for 
the "kingdom of G rhe important matter for us is to under- 

stand this process of cleansing-. To carry out the metaphor so 
that all may understand I will present some more of the Lord's 
language. He said to Nic demus: "As Moses lifted up the 

in tl aness, even so must the Son of man be lifted 

laf whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
eternal life. For - s ve 1 the w rid that he Sfave his only 
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting' life. G-d sent not His Son into the 
world to condemn the world, but that the world through. Him 
He that believeth on Him is not condemned, 
but he that believeth :: t is c ndemned already, because he hath 
ion the name of the onlv begotten Son of God." 
Jno. 3:14, ] 

"In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. S3 

through His blood, according- to the riches of His grace." 
Eph. 1:7. k 'Almost all thing's are by the law purged with 
blood, and without shedding of blood their is no remission." 
Heb. 9:22. ' 'But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, 
and forthwith came thereout blood and water." Jno. 19:34. 
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and unto all the flock, 
over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the 
church of God, which He hath purchased wtth His own precious 
blood." Acts 20:28. "Whom God hath set forth to be a pro- 
pitiation through faith in His blood, to declare his righteousness 
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance 
of God." Rom. 3:25. "Much more then, being- now justified 
bv His blood, we shall be saved from wrath throug-h Him." 
Rom. 5:9. "And having- made peace throug-h the blood of His 
cross, by Him to reconcile all thing-s unto Himself; by Him, I say, 
whether they be thing-son earth or thing-s in Heaven." Col. 
1:20. "In whom we have redemption throug-h his blood, even 
the forgiveness of sins: Who is the imag-e of the invisible God, 
the first born of every creature." Col. 1:14, 15. "Having-, there- 
fore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood 
of Jesus: By a new and living way, which He hath conse- 
crated for us, through the vail, that is to say through His 
flesh." Heb. 10:19, 20. "For as much as ye know that ye are 
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from 
your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers; 
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without 
blemish and without spot." 1 Pet. 1:18, L9. "But if we walk 
in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with 
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleaneth us 
from all sin." 1 Jno. 1:7. We learn from the Scriptures quoted 
that we have in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (1) redemption, 
(2) forgiveness of sins, (3) purging from sin, (4) remission of 
sins, (5) purchasing from sin, (6) propitiation, (7) justification, 
(8) peace, (9) power to enter into the holiest, (10) a cleansing 
from all sin. Next we will give Scripture to show the condition 
of man without the blood of Christ. "The Lord looked down 
from Heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any 
that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, 
they are altogether become filthy, there is none that doeth good, 
no not one." Psalms 14:2, 3. "As it is written, there is none 
righteous, no not one, there is none that understandeth, there is 
none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, 
they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth 
good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their 
tongue they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their 
lips." Rom. 3:10-13. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and 
all our righteousness as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, 
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isa. 
64:6. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desper- 



54 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

ately wicked, who can know it?" Jer. 17:9. "O, Jerusalem! 
wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. 
How long- shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Jer. 4:14. 
"And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in 
wickedness." Jno. 5:19. "Unto the pure all things are pure; 
but unto them that are denied and unbelieving - , is nothing 
pure: but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They pro- 
fess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being 
abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work repro- 
bate." Tit. 1:15, 16. "The earth is therefore defiled under the 
inhabitants thereof; because the}' have transgressed the laws, 
changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." Isa. 
24:5. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in 
the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart 
was onlv evil continually." Gen. 6:5. 

We have now presented Scriptures showing what the natural 
man is in his degenerate state, to show the need of washing in 
Christ's blood, like that great multitude, who had on white 
robes, had done. And from these Scriptures we deduce the fol- 
lowing: (1) That without the blood of Christ all are filthy: 
(2) that none do good, no not one; (3) that none are righteous, 
no not one; (4) there are none that understand or seek the Lord; 
(5) that all have become unprofitable; (6) that their throats have 
become as an open sepulchre; (7) that the poison of asps is un- 
der their lips; (8) that they are all as an unclean thing; (9) that 
all of their righteousness is all filthy rags; (10) all fade as a 
leaf; (11) that the heart is deceitful above all things, and des- 
perately wicked; (12) that our hearts need to be washed from 
wickedness in order to be saved; (13) that the whole world lieth 
in wickedness; (14) that the mind and conscience is defiled; 
(15) that in works they deny God; (16) that they are abomina- 
ble; (17; that they are disobedient; (18) that they are to every 
good work reprobate; (19) that the wickedness of men defiled the 
earth; (20) that man had transgressed the law of God; (21) that 
man has changed the ordinance of God; (22) that man has vio- 
lated his everlasting covenant with God; i 23 ) that every imag- 
ination of the thoughts of man's heart was onlv evil, and that 
continually. 

O, is not man in a deplorable condition? Sank deep down in the 
quagmires of sin; dead in trespasses, and in sins; without God 
and without hope in the world; degenerated and gone far away 
from God. Condemned to die by the holy law of God. But just 
now, just at this stage of man's forlorn condition, Jesus Christ, 
the beloved and only begotten Son of God, left ! the rich, 
the grand, the happy, the holy, and the glorious home He had 
with His Father in Heaven, and came to this sin-cursed and 
wicked world, and threw himself between God, His Father, and 
vile, degenerated, corrupt and unbelieving man; and took the 
place of ruined, condemned people, and died on the Roman cross 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 55 

'to redeem those who had been sentenced to death by the law. 
He poured out his own innocent and precious blood that whoso- 
ever should believe on him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting- life. As we are dealing- with a metaphor, in metaphor- 
ical lang-uag-e, Christ's efficacious blood was poured from His 
holy body into the holy lava of regeneration, and there pre- 
served for the cleansing- of all nations, kindreds and peoples of 
the earth. This lava or tub (metaphorically speaking-) holds 
securely the blood of Christ, and has done so in all ag-es. Thous- 
ands and tens of thousands washed in this blood before it really 
existed. This looks impossible, and so it is to take it literally, 
but it is fig-urative, and is admissible. Abraham believed God, 
and it was imputed to him for rig-hteousness. 

God promised a deliverer; the holy prophets pointed to the 
Savior, the Redeemer. God spoke through Isaiah to the Hebrews, 
and commanded them to wash their hearts from wickedness 
that they mig-ht be saved. Some of them believed God, and un- 
derstood what he meant; for the prophets were preaching- and 
explaining- to them as they were taug-ht of God, and they obeyed 
God and washed their robes in the blood of Christ, who was yet 
to be born into the world. It was in this tub, or lava, that that 
great multitude that no man could number, with the white robes 
on, washed. Thoug-h millions upon millions have washed their 
filth}' robes in that blood it is as pure to-day, and just as effica- 
cious now, and will be as long- as men and women live in this 
world, as it was at first. And that lava, or tub, that contains 
the blood of Christ is not covered with a steel lid, and sealed by 
Almig-hty power, and cherubim, and flaming sword stationed 
there to guard the precious blood, as in the case of the tree of 
life in the Garden of Eden. No, my friends, the cases are as 
different as night and day. In the Garden man had violated the 
law of God, and sentence of death was put upon him. He had 
forfeited all claims on the tree of life; therefore, cherubim, and 
a flaming sword was placed at the east end of the Garden to 
guard the way to the tree of life. And what God has done for 
man from that day to this has been of his own free will, and ac- 
cord, and through his own mercy and unmerited grace, for he was 
under no obligation whatever to man. But at the appointed 
time Christ came into the world to seek and to save the lost. 
He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 
And He came unto His own (those the Father had given him), 
and they received Him not, but as many as received Him gave 
He power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe 
on His name: Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jno. 1:11-13. 

This last verse evidently refers to the new birth of which Jesus 
told Nicodemus. Jno. 3. "Except a man be born again he can- 
not see the kingdom of God." All men are born of the blood, 
and of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man, but all are 



56 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

not born of God, not born again, not born of the Spirit. And in' 
this natural state man is averse to God, and righteousness, and 
cannot please God. Because the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can 
be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." 
Rom. 8:7, 8. 

This means that those who are in the flesh, and are governed 
by the will and inclinations of the flesh, cannot please God. 
But those who have been converted by the Spirit of God, and 
have the grace of God in their hearts, can please God; for they 
are enabled to bring the natural man under subjection to the spir- 
itual man. "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of 
the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit mind the things of the 
Spirit/' 

When Jesus came into the world to take away the sin of the 
world, He did not remove the Heavenly guards and flaming 
sword from the East end of the garden, but they still hold their 
position and sacredly guard the tree of life, in obedience to the 
great God of Heaven. Had Jesus removed these Heaven-ap- 
pointed guards and left the tree of life exposed, then haughty, 
self-willed man could step forward and by his own human 
power pluck the fruit from the tree of life and live on forever, 
exulting in his own vanity; saying, I have done it, I have saved 
my undying soul by my own work. Be not deceived. God is not 
mocked; the Bible teaches no such doctrine. The only hope for 
fallen man is in the blood of the Lord Jesus. Justice required 
that man should be beaten with stripes, but they were laid upon 
Jesus. Justice required that man should be wounded for his 
transgressions, but Christ received those wounds in His own 
body. Justice required that pure and innocent blood should be 
shed for the remission of sins, and as man had no such blood in 
his veins, and as no other creature in Heaven, nor upon the 
earth, nor under the earth, could be found with such blood, 
Jesus emptied His own pure, innocent, undefiled, efficacious 
blood into the lava or tub of salvation, or regeneration. And 
this lava has stood there in close contact with the tree of life for 
hundreds of years, for the cleansing of the nations of the earth; 
and all the vile sinners of the world are invited to come to that 
lava, and wash their robes and make them white in the blood of 
the Lamb. That lava or tub is placed on a direct line to the 
tree of life, and very near it, and there is no other way to the 
tree of life, except through that pool of holy blood. All of 
Adam's posterity fell with him from that state of moral recti- 
tude and sweet union and communion they prospectively had 
with God before the fall, and can only get back in favor with 
God through the efficacious blood of Christ. Proud, self-willed, 
high-headed, depraved man is opposed to bathing in this pool of 
sacred blood. When he is convinced by the Word, and by the 
Hol} T Spirit, that he is a sinner and that he will be lost unless he 



SUFFERINGS OF Till-: ELECT. 57 

becomes reconciled to God and does better, he makes for the 
straight and narrow way; he starts by trying- to lop off his 
evil practices, and begins to pra}< to God for mercy, and promises 
to do better, and be better; and sometimes is willing to pay 
tithes of all he possesses, and pray several times a day. He 
desires to compromise with God, that God may save him. He 
wants to be saved, and desires to save himself by his reforma- 
tion; he wants to do something to bring God under obligation to 
him, that he may merit salvation. He goes on, step by step, 
till he gets near the tree of life; then he comes to the lava con- 
taining the all-cleansing blood of Christ; he stops, and says: 
ki That tub is in the way. I want to get to the tree of life and 
save my soul, but I object to going through that lava of blood. 
Religion is a sensible thing and I don't see any sense in passing 
through that pool of blood. I am pulling straight forward to 
the tree of life; I have quit my evil practices; I am visiting the 
widows and orphans, and am helping to build churches, and to 
spread the Gospel, and am giving to every object of charity, and 
am doing good to all men, as far as the power lies in me, and 
am praying earnestly to God to help me get to the tree of life. 
I know that I am in the straight and narrow path that leads 
there. I see no other path that leads to it, and yet I see no way 
around this tub of blood. Ah! Wonderful discovery do I now 
make. It is a bright idea, as clear as the noon beams of the 
great king of day. Here it is in Christ's own words. Listen 
all men, everywhere; give ear to the new and grand discovery! 
You will find it in the great commission of our Lord. "He that be- 
lieveth, and is baptized, shall be saved." I see it now! Won- 
der why I had not discovered this nigh cut to the tree of life be- 
fore. Oh! Am I not so happy! It is so much nearer and so 
much easier, and so sensible that all people can see into it, and 
save themselves by their own upright walk and obedient living; 
only believe, repent and be baptized, and save themselves. Some 
commentators saj- that faith and repentance are gifts of God. 
Then, if we should accept that construction God carries us two- 
thirds of the way to the tree of life, and we carry ourselves the 
other third of the way. Then God is entitled to two-thirds of 
the honor of our salvation, and we are entitled to the other one- 
third; for everyone knows that baptism is the work of man. The 
natural breathing of our hearts, then would be, praise the Lord, 
for the precious gifts of faith and repentance, but I compliment 
my honorable self for one-third of my salvation. O! Lord God! 
I thank Thee for Thy gifts of faith and repentance, which car- 
ried me two-thirds of the way to the tree of life, but I thank 
myself for getting my consent to be baptized in water, and I 
also thank the good preacher for baptizing me, by which I re- 
ceived the remission of my sins and was led to the tree of life. 
Some others contend that it takes faith, repentance, confession 
and baptism to save a soul, or bring it to the tree of life, and 



58 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

that all these are the works of man, and that they are com- 
manded of God; and that if man will comply with these re- 
quirements that he will reach the tree of life, and live forever; 
that is, provided he does not sin any more. But if he sins again 
he will be lost, unless he is saved ag-ain; but just how he is saved 
a second, third, fourth or fifth time, I don't understand; but to 
make any reasonable show of consistency I suppose they have to 
believe, repent, confess and be baptized again. Under this sys- 
tem of salvation there are five essentials: (1) faith, (2) repen- 
tance, (3) confession, (4) baptism, (5) grip to hold it fast when 
once received. But the Scriptures teach us that we are saved 
by grace, and grace is the unmerited favor of God. It comes 
through faith; that is, faith is the medium through which sal- 
vation flows into our hearts, and it is not by any act of ours, but 
it is the gift of God; "not of works, lest any man should boast." 
Man is proud, and craves to boast, but boasting is excluded; man 
must be saved by the mercy of God. It is the goodness of God 
that leads man to repentance, and repentance to faith, and faith 
to humiliation before God, and humiliation to a state of mind 
and soul in which he views himself as a ruined, lost and con- 
demned man, without any power, wisdom or means to save him- 
self. He then realizes his condition just as it is. He views an 
angry God, who cannot look upon sin with the least degree of 
allowance; he also sees a God of love and mercy, a God who so 
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who- 
soever believed on Him should not perish, but should have ever- 
lasting" life. He also sees a Savior who came to seek and to save 
sinners. The convicted man says in his heart, That is the Sav- 
ior I want; His blood cleanses from all sin; lam hunting- Him; I 
am searching for Him, and He is seeking me; I am sinking- in 
this quagmire of sin, without hope and without God in the 
world. Shall my poor soul be lost in hell forever, where hope 
nor mercy can never reach me? Oh! What shall I do? What 
can I do? I am resolved to cry with all my heart to Jesus of 
Nazareth to have mercy on me, and perhaps He will hear the 
cries of a poor, ruined sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. 
O! Jesus of Nazareth, thou sinner's friend, have compassion on 
me! Jesus stands near by; He hears the cry, and extends a lov- 
ing, a soul-satisfying invitation; as there are numbers of these 
invitations around him, some on the right, some on the left, 
some before and some behind him. "Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my 
yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in 
heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, 
and my burden is light." Mat. 11:28-30. Then the sinner by 
faith lays hold upon Jesus, and Jesus lays hold upon the sinner, 
and lifts him out of the quagmire of sin and misery and places 
the saved sinner upon Himself, the sure foundation; and he is 
added to the number of the saved, his name is written in the 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 59 

Lamb's Book of Life, and the poor sinner then sees as he has 
never seen before, and is happier than ever before. He realizes 
that Christ is his personal Savior, that he has washed in 
Christ's efficacious blood, that he has on the wedding g-arment; 
that his robe has been made pure, clean and white by the cleans- 
ing- blood of the Lamb. He was blind, but now he sees; was 
lost, but now is found; was dead, but now is alive, having- been 
quickened by the Spirit of God, and made alive. This is regen- 
eration; this is the new birth of which Jesus tells Nicodemus in 
John 3. The fruit of this regeneration is peace, love, joy, etc. 
Before regeneration he was after the thing's of the flesh, and 
minded the thing-s of the flesh; but now he is after the Spirit, and 
minds thing-s of the Spirit. Before regeneration his delig-ht was 
to serve the lusts of the flesh, which are these: "Adultery, for- 
nication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatrv, witchcraft, ha- 
tred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
envying-s, murders, drunkenness, reveling-, and such like." Gal. 
5:19-21. But after regeneration he is a new creature, and his 
delig-ht is in the fruit of the Spirit, which "Is love, peace, joy, 
long-suffering-, gentleness, g-oodness, faith, temperance, meek- 
ness," etc. Gal. 5:21-23. 

Now we come to that important matter which stag-gers so many 
people, that washing- in the blood of Jesus. That great multi- 
tude that no man could number; having- white robes on, and 
palms in their hands, had washed their robes in Christ's blood, 
and had made them white. The question is in reg-ard to the 
manner of washing-, and how the blood of Christ has been pre- 
served from the day of his crucifixion till now. His precious 
blood trickled down from His tender hands and feet, and loving- 
side, when he was nailed to the Roman cross nearly nineteen 
hundred years ag-o, and stained that cross, while some poured 
upon the ground to be evaporated, and absorbed by the groaning* 
earth, as it was shaken from center to circumference. 

Now how did that great multitnde, that no man could num- 
ber, procure this blood of Christ in which to wash their robes? 
And how could the blood of one man be of sufficient quantity to 
wash so many millions of robes and make them all white? 
Now we must remember that the Holy Spirit in writing-, throug-h 
the instrumentality of man, uses fig-ures, often presenting- the 
truth in metaphorical lang-uage, and this is true in this case. 
While that precious and efficacious blood of the Lamb of God 
was literally wasted upon the cross, and no part of it could be 
collected; yet it was shed to save sinners, and without it no sin- 
ner could ever have been saved. "Without the shedding- of 
blood there is no remission." Thoug-h that blood of Jesus is 
literally g-one from the world, yet the scene at the crucifixion of 
the beloved Son of God is indelibly fixed in the mind and heart 
of God, and of Jesus, who was sacrificed. And when a sinner 
comes to Christ the scene of the cross is fresh in the mind and 



60 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

heart of God, and His crucified Son; and the blood of Christ is 
most prominent of all, and the most impressive of all upon 
the mind and heart of God, and His Son Jesus; and the sinner 
is accepted through the blood of Jesus. In this precious blood 
we have atonement, redemption, justification, sanctification and 
glorification. Atonement, because the stripes, wounds, bruises 
and death that we deserved were all laid upon Him. He shed 
His blood to atone for our sins. We were condemned to die, 
and had no righteousness to justify us in the courts of Heaven; 
but Jesus so loved us that He gave His efficacious blood to 
cleanse us from all unrighteousness, having His righteousness 
imputed to us for our own. Then, by faith in Christ's blood we 
are justified and have peace with God. Rom. 5:1. "Much 
more then being now justified by His blood we shall be saved 
from wrath through Him." Rom. 5:9. Sanctification in the 
blood. "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made 
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
demption. That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, 
let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:30-31. "Elect according 
to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification 
of the Spirit unto obedience, and the sprinkling of the blood of 
Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. 1 Pet. 
1:2. We learn from this last quotation that it is the work of 
the Holy Spirit to sanctify, and to incline the hearts of the peo- 
ple to come to Jesus, and acknowledge Him as their Savior, 
their righteousness, their sanctification, their redemption, and 
their glorification. But all this work of the Spirit would be 
solemn mockery without the blood of Christ; such mockery as 
God has never displayed. The Holy Spirit convicts, or con- 
vinces the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He 
points us to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the 
world. "The Spirit says come." Our glorification in the 
blood: "And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given 
them, that they may be one, even as we are one." Jno. 17:22. 

God has left it with man to appropriate this blood, or reject 
it. Fallen, corrupt man has no love for God, or holiness in his 
heart. Though in the fall his reason was not dethroned. Had 
man's reason been dethroned, he would not have been accounta- 
ble, but as it is God holds him responsible for his deeds, which 
fact we will prove by the Scriptures. "Come now, and let us 
reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, 
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crim- 
son, they, shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye 
shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye 
shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." Isa. 1:18-20. "Then Jonah prayed to the 
Lord, his God, out of the fish's belly, and said: I cried by 
reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me; out of 
the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardst my voice. For Thou 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 61 

hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the 
floods compassed me about; all Thy billows and Thy waves 
passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight, yet 
I will look again toward Thy holy temple. The waters com- 
passed me about, even to the soul; the depth closed me round 
about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went 
down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars 
was about me forever, yet hast Thou brought up my life from 
corruption. O! Lord, my God! When my soul fainted within 
me I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto Thee, 
into Thine holy temple. They that observe lying- vanities for- 
sake their own mercy, but I sacrifice unto Thee with the voice 
of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salva- 
tion is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it 
vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." Jonah 2. "Ho! every- 
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 
money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come; bring- wine and milk, 
without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend 
money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that 
which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye 
that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 
Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall 
live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even 
the sure mercies of David. Behold! I have given him for a 
witness to the people; a leader and commander to the people. 
Behold! Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and 
nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the 
Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; fot ye hath glo- 
rified thee. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye 
upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto 
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, 
for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, neither are your ways my wa} r s, saith the Lord. For 
as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher 
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'' 
Isa. 55:1-9. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son 
of Oded; and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him: 
Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is 
with you, while ye be with Him, and if ye seek Him He 
will be found of you; but if you forsake Him He will forsake 
you." 2 Chron. 15:1,2. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, 
"I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, 
should walk before me forever; but now the Lord saith, be it 
far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and the} T that 
despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 1 Sam. 2:30. These 
quotations from God's word plainly show that God holds man 
responsible for his behaviour. And that he can obey God or not, 
just as he chooses; that he can hear the voice of God and live, or 



62 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

refuse to hear it and die. He can yield to the influence of the 
Holy Spirit of God and be made a disciple of the Lord Jesus 
Christ upon earth and heir of Heaven forever, the unmerited fa- 
vor of God, or he can resist the Holy Spirit and make himself 
miserable upon the earth, and condemned forever in the regions 
of darkness and keen despair. 

In order to further substantiate this doctrine, I will use a text 
that may be found in Rev. 3:20. But before presenting- this text 
I will add another word regarding- the washing of our robes. In 
order to wash our robes in Christ's blood, we must believe, first 
of all, that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that dil- 
igently seek Him. Heb. 11:6. Then faith is the carriage in 
which we are brought to God. "Draw nigh to God and He will 
draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify 
your hearts, ye double-minded. " ' 'Resist the devil and he will flee 
from you." Jas. 4:7,8. Faith is the vehicle that brings us to 
Christ, or in my own language, Christ is the substance that 
brings faith to our minds, for "faith is the substance of things 
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." And I believe 
it would throw light on the subject to say that Christ is the sub- 
stance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, for 
it is by the redemption of Christ that we are reconciled to God, 
and Christ formed in us the hope of glory is the evidence of things 
not seen. 

Now to the text referred to above. "Behold! I stand at the door 
and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will 
come in unto him and sup with him and he with me. Rev. 3:20. 
Metaphorically speaking, man has a house and his house has 
a door and every man is the rightful governor of his own 
house, by the authority and power vested in him by his maker. 
The devil is like a roaring lion going to and fro on earth seek- 
ing whom he may devour, whose house he may spoil and whose 
soul he may destroy. Passing on his grand rounds he sees your 
house, calls and knocks at your door and with his mouth full 
of hypocrisy and lies, says, "friend, let me in, I am a particular 
friend of yours and if you will let me in, I will learn } r ou how 
to be happy." Man being the proprietor, has the right to re- 
fuse him admittance and say, "begone! } 7 ou are a fraud, you 
seek to deceive me as you did Eve!" "Resist the devil and he 
will flee from you." But if you are charmed by his deceptive 
voice and skillful knocking at your door, you have just the same 
power and authority to open the door and invite him in, that you 
have to drive him away, and if you open the door he will come 
in with a pleasant smile and court your confidence, and this be- 
ing obtained, he then commences a tirade of abuse upon Chris- 
tians and Christian living. And he says: "Look here! In order to 
illustrate to you the ways of pleasant living, I will set up a pic- 
ture of a nice ball room in the northeast corner of your house. 
Look at it! Don't you see those beautiful young ladies conducted 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 63 

there by those good looking- young- men? All countenances are 
bright and exhibit what pleasure they anticipate soon. The 
fiddler is conspicuous in the group, he commenced turning the 
screws in his fiddle and feeling of the strings, which made a lit- 
tle noise which was indicative of what was coming next. All 
eyes were turned to him sparkling with delight, and when he 
drew his bow over the stringed instrument, the prompter arose 
and gave the command, and then the graceful movements of the 
lovely party was exhibited; the choosing of partners, joining 
hands, swinging corners, and prancing, and capering, and such 
clattering of feet on the floor. The lovers of dancing never 
saw anything so fascinating anywhere else. Then the devil 
says to the man, 'look now in the northwest corner of your 
house, at that elegant picture; that is a nice saloon, where sen- 
sible people gather for social enjoyment. See how happy they 
are; telling entertaining stories, and innocent jokes. See how 
they shake with laughter. Don't you know that is the way to 
enjoy life? Their hilarity soon fags, and they become thirsty. 
Then John Smith, one of the party, says: "Gents, I am getting 
thirsty; suppose we have a drink?" Mr. Jim Jones says: "I sec- 
ond the motion, for I have been in that notion for some time. 
Now, the question arises, who shall pay for the drinks?" Tob 
Grinny — "Throw- crack-a-loo." Dave Tholdey — "I second the 
motion." It's carried, the drinks are taken, and in a short time 
the drinks are taken again, and continue to be taken, until they 
all get very happy. Then the devil says to the man: "Look into 
the Southeast corner. See that new ten-pin alley, billiard ta- 
ble, cards, monte bank, and other preparations for the enjoy- 
ment of sensible men. Study upon these things until I come 
again. I think you will agree with me that I am right, and the 
best friend you have ever found. I will call again soon. You 
have been so very kind, and treated me with so much respect. I 
feel a deep interest in your wellfare. Goodbye, my precious 
son; remember your dear friend." When the old serpent has 
crawled on his belly in search of some other man's house, Jesus 
comes to that man's house that the serpent has just left, and 
says: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if you will open 
the door, and let me in, I will sup with you and you with me." 
The man in his house says: "That is Jesus. What shall I 
do?" The serpent whispers from the back door: "Don't let 
Him in; tell Him to go on for the present — that you will call for 
Him at a more convenient season." 

Man: "But this is an important matter, and requires prompt 
attention, and I think that I had better open the door and let 
Him in, and see what He has to say, and what He means by 
supping with me," etc. 

Devil (from the back door, through the keyhole, in a diabol- 
ical, sneaking, and snake-like hissing, whispers): "Don't you 
let Him in; He is an enemy; He will ruin your manhood, de- 



64 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

stroy your happiness and freedom, and change you from a high- 
toned gentleman to a long-faced, grunting Christian." 

Man: "Begone, devil!" and he sneaks off. 

Man then opens the door and the Savior enters in at this 
door, for He would not enter in any other way. He would not 
climb over the wall, nor creep in at a window. And as Christ 
enters the man's house it is filled with light, for Christ is the 
light of the world, and His life was the light of men. The Di - 
vine command is, "Awake, thou that sleepeth, and rise from 
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." The man awoke, 
arose, and opened the door, and Christ entered with the light. 
The grace of God following the first act of obedience of man. 
Then man viewed himself and surroundings by the light Christ 
had brought into his house, as he had never done before. Then 
Christ said to the man: "Why do you have those paintings in 
three corners of your house?" 

Man: "A character who claimed to be a friend put them 
there." 

Christ: "What did he put them there for?" 

Man: "To show me how to live a happy life." 

Christ: "Did he get a faithful promise from you that you 
would visit, and participate in the balls, saloons and gambling 
houses?" 

Man: "No; I was not entirely convinced that he was alto- 
gether right in his representations." 

Christ: "What were his representations?" 

Man: "That they were places of manly enjoyment and lovely 
associations." 

Christ: "That was the same old serpent that beguiled Eve 
in the Garden of Eden. He adheres tenaciously to his profes- 
sion of beguiling and lying." 

Man: "Is that the same old serpent that lied to Eve so in the 
garden?" 

Christ: "The very identical creature. ,, 

Man: "I thought something was wrong with him, for when 
you knocked at the door and said that if I would open the door 
you would come in and sup with me, etc., he ran up behind the 
house and said, in a low voice: "Don't let Him in; He will ruin 
vou." I knew then there was something hidden and crooked 
about his flowery talk." 

Christ: "He is a snake-in-the-grass." 

Man: "He is a fluent talker and has winning ways, and is 
well calculated to deceive the unsuspecting." 

Christ: "I know him of old. He would deceive the very 
elect if it were possible, but it is not possible, for they follow 
me whithersoever I go, and where I am there are they also; and 
he knows not to come in my presence. He followed me around 
in the wilderness forty days and nights, while I was in the 
flesh, living a life of righteousness for all that would wear it, 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 65 

and he used all of his subtlety and guile to tempt me; but I re- 
pulsed him every time, and he knows that I would do it again." 

"That was the reason he sneaked around behind the house, 
and objected to your letting me in, cunning-, wise and deceitful. 
I will now tell you about those pictures in the three corners of 
your house. They are well drawn, he is a skillful workman 
and a fine artist; but he only presented to you the bright side; 
he had too much sense to let you go behind the screen, and 
view the dark side of those pictures; but now I invite you to go 
with me behind the curtains, to examine the dark side. First 
in order is the ball room. What do you see? 

Man: "I see men with bottles of whiskey in their pock- 
ets; drinking- and drunkenness; jealousies arising- in the hearts 
and countenances of men; ang-er, strife, malice, emulation, back- 
biting-, quarreling", fig-hting-, red eyes, bloody noses, cracked 
skulls, broken arms, dirks, pistols, and loose knives and ruined 
ladies; and also on a face I see the whipping- post, penitentiary 
and g-allows." 

Christ: "Now look at the saloon and tell what you see." 

Man: "I see hag-gard faces, woe begone countenances, and 
they spending their last dollar, and last nickel, for strong drink, 
when in some cases their poor wives and little children are at 
home starving, and destitute of comfortable raiment. Large, 
able-bodied men, begging a drink, begging a dime to buy 
a drink. Some pawning their hats from their heads, shoes 
from their feet and coats from their backs, for whiskey; 
men reeling to and fro, using all manner of obscene lan- 
guage; cursing, and swearing that they can whip a cir- 
cular saw. A friend says: 'Bobbie, you are going too 
far; that saw would make two Bobbies of you in a second." 
Bob says to his good natured friend: 'You try me!' and at the 
same time strikes his friend on the nose, and the blood spouts; 
his friend snatches a decanter from the counter, and strikes 
him in the face, and cuts it badly; another chum rushes up and 
stabs in the heart of the man that threw the decanter; another 
good friend puts a ball through the brains of the man that used 
the dirk, and I see others coming into it with bowie knives, and 
all manner of weapons; I don't want to see anymore, I want to 
get away from there." 

Christ: "Hold on! I want you to see it all." 

Man: "I can't stand any more of it." 

Christ: "I want you to stay and see the officers come and ar- 
rest the guilty parties, put handcuffs and chains on them, and 
march them off to jail and see them pushed into cages, and 
locked up like wild beasts, and see the coroner come with the 
doctor to do up the wounds of the living and strip the dead, and 
decide how they came by their death, and then follow them to 
the courthouse and hear the evidence against the guilty parties 
and hear the sentence of the judge." 



66 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

Man: "Please stop these unpleasant scenes." 

Christ: "Now we will look at the dark side of the gambling 

saloon." 

Man: "O. me! I don't want to see it. I have enough of 
the dark side of the devil's fair-faced pictures: I know now that 
it is only another one of the devil's workshops: I want you to 
talk to me about something- more pleasant: that supping- with 
me. for instance." 

Christ: "All right. "When you yielded to my call, and 
opened your door and I entered in. how did you feel?" 

Man; "I felt that I had a guest of whom I was not worthy." 

Christ: "How did your good works, and homemade right- 
eousness, appear to you?" 

Man: "As worthless, unclean, and filthy." 

Christ: "What do you suppose caused that difference?" 

Man: "Your presence." 

Christ: "You are right, for I am the true light that came 
down from the Father of lights, and where I am there is light 
from above. It was ordained by us in the beginning- that man 
should be an intellectual being, next to us in the scale of beings. 
and that he should be a free moral agent, to choose and decide 
for himself, to choose his own company, and his own ways: and 
in order to let him know what was pleasing to us and what was 
not. and what would bring the grace of God to him. and what 
would bring the wrath of God upon him. we ordained that we 
would help man in every way we could without interfering with 
his free moral agency: and we furthermore decreed that when- 
ever man made one step in turning to us we would give him our 
grace to help him 'in proportion to the step . to get to a state 
of salvation. Be not deceived, and think that you can get into 
a state of salvation step by step of your own: this would be a 
woeful mistake, because you are saved alone by our grace. But 
you have to step, and keep stepping, until you get to the place 
where our grace, which saves the soul, is bestowed. I made the 
first step: I came and made a proposition to you that if you 
would hear my voice, and open the door, that I would come into 
you. and sup with you. and you with me: but you were dead in 
tresspasses and sins. Xot dead like a dead tree that has no 
communication with air. water, earth, or anything else. But 
you were estranged from God. and holiness, without God. and 
without hope in the world: but you heard my voice, and opened 
the door of your house, and I have come in to sup with you. and 
have you sup with me. The figurative knocking of my hand 
upon your figurative door, and the divine spirit of my voice, has 
awakened you. and you are now in a condition to exercise those 
noble powers of mind we bestowed apon you at first. You made 
a wise step when vou ordered the devil off. and opened your 
door. for. in accordance with our decree, the grace of light 
blazed in vour house as soon as I entered. Our grace follows 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 67 

every step a man makes in the road that leads to Heaven. 
Give ear, O! man. I will explain: I mean by supping with 
you, swapping" with you; that is, that I will take your place, if 
you will take mine. What do you say? Will you make the 
swap?" 

Man: 44 I can't understand the proposition — how I can be you 
and you be me; neither do I understand why so exalted a being 
as you are, should propose to change places with such an un- 
worthy man as I am." 

Christ: "I will explain, for this is the question of questions, 
and must be understood, or man is lost forever. According to 
the stipulations of the covenant entered into between my Fa- 
ther and nryself , away back before man was made, it was agreed 
that we should g-ive man a law, and that law was not to partake 
of a certain tree; but the serpent influenced man to violate that 
law. It was further provided in that covenant that if man did 
violate that law that he should have another chance; that an- 
other law should be given Kim, the substance of which was, 
'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, 
mind and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.' Many g-ood 
men of old strove hard to keep that law, but as a result of the 
bad seeds sown in the garden, man was too weak; his head was 
sick, his heart was faint; his whole body and mind were so pois- 
oned with sin that he failed. And it was further agreed in the 
covenant that if man failed to keep the second law, the moral 
law, the law of works, that if he could not work his way to 
Heaven, that he should have a third law, a law of grace. That 
I, who was then the Word, should come into this world and be 
born of a woman, and live the life of a righteous man, to keep 
the law for man, in man's stead, and to bear vile persecution, 
contradiction of sinners, false accusations, be crucified, buried, 
and lie three days and nig-hts in the bowels of the earth, and 
rise from the grave, and bring- life and immortality to light, 
through the Gospel; all of which I have done; and the Father is 
well pleased with it all. God is reconciled to man throug-h 
what I have done, but man is a free moral ag-ent; (a free moral 
agent is one who is instructed how to do, and can do as he 
chooses; if he is governed by the instructions he is safe, but if 
he goes contrary to the instructions, a penalty is annexed); then 
you are a free moral agent, for God to bring your soul to Him, 
provided you g-o by His instructions, and then you will be saved; 
but if you go contrary, you will be lost. 'I am the door; by me 
if any man enter in, he shall be saved.' Will you swap me your 
vile character for mine? Say, will you accept what I have done 
for you, and receive my righteousness as your own, and g-ive me 
all the glory of your salvation? This is your last chance. For 
without holiness it is impossible to please God, and you have 
none of your own. You must be saved by grace, or not at all. 
By the grace of God you stand; without it, you fall. You have 



68 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

tested works, and find no relief. Will you now acknowledge 
that grace alone can save?" 

Man: "From what you have said, it seems to me that there 
is something- for man to do before he can be saved, and yet jom 
require me to say that I can only be saved by grace, and, if I 
understand it, grace is the unmerited favor of God; and if that 
alone saves us, man has nothing- to do with it. It is just with 
God whether he is saved or not." 

_ Christ: "I tell you ag-ain, that I wroug-ht a complete salva- 
tion for every man, and it is offered to everyone without pay. I 
will give you a simple illustration: I will suppose you to be a 
farmer, and that you have a fine g-arden, and fine cows that 
bring you plenty of milk and butter, and } t ou have everything 
that is g-ood to eat, and a fine dinner prepared, when a tramp 
comes along-, and walks up to your door and says: 'Good man, I 
am hungry; could you give a poor, hungry man a little bite to 
eat?' and you tell him yes, dinner is about ready; hang your hat 
on the rack; and there is water, wash your face and hands and 
comb your head, and walk into dinner; but the tramp says, 'sir, I 
am willing to hang my hat on the rack and to wash my face, 
but I never comb my hair.' Then, you say, 'You can't eat at 
my table without combing your hair.' Tramp — 'I am very 
hungry, but I had rather do something else; cut you some wood, or 
do some other kind of work to pay you for my dinner.' Land- 
lord— 'You can't pay me for your dinner, I don't want any of 
your work. My dinner is a free offering for everyone that will 
conform to the rules of my house.' Tramp — 'I will pay you the 
money for dinner.' Landlord — 'I don't want your money, nor 
your work; my feast is given in honor of my son, who was born 
on the twentieth of May, 1840, and died the twenty-fourth of 
December, 1886, in an attempt to defend a friendless tramp 
from the assaults of a drunken mob. He loved everybody, and 
on the twentieth of May, his birthday, we make a big feast in 
honor of our son, and everybody is invited, because he loved 
everybody; and his last words to me were, 'Father, feed the 
hungry, clothe the naked, and do everybody all the good you 
can.' And now at this feast our custom is that everyone 
who comes to the feast shall hang his hat on that hat rack, and 
bathe his face and hands in that bowl, and wipe on that towel, 
and comb with that comb, for when our son was living and came 
into his meals, he invariably hung his hat upon that hat rack, 
and bathed in that bowl, and dried with that towel, and combed 
with that comb, and then walked into the dining room and ate 
his meals. And if you enter that long dining room, and raise 
your head, you will see the portrait of our son, who died for 
you. Then you must bow to the image in token of your appre- 
ciation of the noble qualities of him who died for your sort. 
Tramp — 'I will comb my head with that comb if it pulls my 
■ hair out by the roots, and takes part of my scalp with it. My 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. r. ( > 

soul delights to honor the ashes of such a man.' He combed 
his head, and walked to the door, and made a low and reveren- 
tial bow to the image, ate his dinner and was happy, and left, 
praising- the good family. 

Every man has some notions peculiar to himself. Most men 
would like to be saved, but would like to have their own way in 
the arrangement. The hungry and starving tramp insisted on 
having his own way, but the landlord informed him, plainty, 
that he could not partake of his feast, until he complied with 
the established rules of his house; but after the landlord ex- 
plains the objects of his rules he sees the consistency of them, 
and is converted and rejoices in them, and would not have them 
changed a particle. 

God has provided a rich and everlasting feast for every hu- 
man being, and has invited everyone to come partake freely, 
without money and without price. But all have to submit to 
the rules of Heaven before ■ they can participate in the feast. 
That feast was the preparation of the Godhead, away back, 
thousands of } T ears before man was made, and I bought that feast 
from my Father in Heaven on a long credit, and gave him my 
note, payable in about four thousand years after the creation of 
man, and it fell due about one thousand eight hundred and sixty 
years ago, and I paid it at its maturity, upon the Roman cross 
with my own heart's precious blood. It is mine; I have paid 
for it, and I have a perfect right to invite whosoever I will to 
that heavenly feast, and I love everyone of Adam's fallen pos- 
posterity, and did before we made them. Therefore I invite 
every one of them to the great feast, but the rules of our king- 
dom must be complied with." 

Man: "What are the terms of your admission to that ever- 
lasting, heavenly feast?" 

Christ: "My terms of admission to this Heavenly feast are 
that men shall wash their robes in my blood, and make them 
white." 

Man: "By what process is this accomplished?" 

Christ: "This has been explained to you, yet I'll tell you 
some other things in this direction. You must resist the devil, 
and draw nigh to God." 

Man: "Can we resist the devil ?" 

Christ: "Yes, God commands you to do this, and whatever 
God commands you to do, He gives you power to do it." 

Man: "Can we draw nigh to God?" 

Christ: "Yes, the road is open; whenever my Father com- 
mands he opens the way for compliance. Only keep the devil 
out of the road; when he gets between you and my Father tell 
him to get behind you, and he is bound to obey you. Keep him 
so far behind you that you can't feel his influences, and then 
press on nearer and nearer to my Father, and the nearer you get 



70 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

to my Father the greater will be the distance between you and 
the devil." 

Man: "Well, who made the devil any how, and for what 
purpose?" 

Christ: "We made him for the purpose of giving- man an op- 
portunity to display his power, and grandeur of character." 

Man: "How is that? You made him to cause man to dis- 
play his greatness, and yet he tempts man to do all manner of 
meanness, such as you will punish us for doing-. This seems to 
be inconsistent; please explain." 

Christ: "Man was made for the giory of God and my joy, 
and was destined to have a history in time and in eternity, such 
a history as would require thousands upon thousands of books 
to contain it. And without the devil less than one pag-e of note 
paper would record the history of man in time and eternity. 
It would run about as follows: God made man and placed him 
in a beautiful g-arden, and surrounded him with everything- that 
would make him happy, and told him to multiply and replenish 
the earth, and to govern everything that God had made upon 
the earth. The family of man obeyed, and when the earth 
passed away God took them to Heaven, and they have been fol- 
lowing him around there ever since, with their mouths full of 
milk and honey, like so many kitty cats that know nothing but to 
be happy. But as it is, how far different to this is the history 
of man. Men have the opportunity of manifesting their wis- 
dom, power and grandeur of character while battling against 
the devil, and the world which is poisoned with the inflluence 
of satan, and against the flesh, which is filled with meteors fly- 
ing from the hot beds of his satanic majesty. And the greater 
the warfare, the greater will be the glory in winning the vic- 
tory." (To illustrate this idea will relate an incident: In the 
year 1846 a brave young man, Winston Hunter, who was on the 
eve of entering the Mexican war, was discussing the difficulties 
and obstacles to overcome, when he declared that he wished 
they were greater and more numerous, for the glory would be 
measured by the opposition overcome, which was true, and il- 
lustrates the above. Mr. Hunter's motto was 'give me glory or 
give me death.' Now, if a man will brook all dangers and hard- 
ships for a mortal crown, how much more should he do and en- 
dure for a crown of eternal glory in Jesus, who died for him.) 

Christ continues: "As before stated, we made man a free 
moral agent to choose for himself, and we also made the devil 
(I the Lord created good, and I the Lord created evil), and 
placed him behind man, in order that man should have opposi- 
tion, and have opportunity to gain glory by overcoming the 
opposition. Man}" has power over the devil, because we gave 
man power over everything that we made upon the earth. Man 
had a fair chance in the garden, plenty to eat and to drink 
(pure healthful water), no hard work to do, only had to over- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. . 71 

come the old serpent, but he lacked a little experience in regard 
to the serpent's treachery, hence was overcome. But then we 
gave man the moral law which was to love God with all his 
powers, and his neighbor as himself. Then man's task was 
harder, the earth was cursed with thorns, thistles, etc. Since 
man's eyes were opened and he knew more he must have more 
to contend with, in order to win a harvest of glory. He had 
then to earn a living* by the sweat of his face, to cultivate the 
earth, contend with the thorns, thistles, etc. ; and raise cattle, 
sheep and other animals, and offer them as sacrifices to God, 
being- typical of the great sacrafice that should be made by me, 
at the appointed time. He also had to pay tithes of all he pos- 
sessed to keep up the synagogues, etc. Man was still himself 
with all his innate powers, as a free moral agent, but there was 
no chance for him to reach the tree of life, which was guarded 
by the Heavenly host, except by complying- with the rules of 
our kingdom. 

"When man failed according to the stipulations of the cove- 
nant made between the Father and me, I came to earth and took 
man's place, and kept the moral law for man, and poured out 
my blood upon the cross to wash man's sins away; and I became 
the end of the law for rig-hteousness to every one that believed 
on me. And as my Father shed the blood of animals in Eden 
to g-et the skins to make a covering- for Adam and Eve, and as 
Moses had animals slain in Egypt to g-et blood to sprinkle on 
the door posts and lintils to protect God's national people from 
the destroying- ang-el which was to pass around and destroy the 
firstborn of every house where the blood was not found, so have 
I given up my blood as a covering- for every man who will wash 
his robe in this blood. 

"In order to procure this covering- for man I was in a great 
strait, the ag-onies of a horrible death were viewed on one side, 
and on the other side was my love of the human family, and my 
desire to deliver them from the pit and enable them to share *in 
the great feast that I was about to purchase for them, and also 
the joy that I should secure by saving- so many from the curse 
of the law. O, the ag-ony, the pains of my heart! Should I 
recoil at death's alarm, and back down from the covenant 
agreement, and returned to Heaven and tell my father that I 
had declined, that I could not bear the tortures of the cross, that 
I would have to surrender the enterprise, and that the family of 
man should have to be given over to satan; or should I endure 
the cross, and despise the shame, and then go home and sit down 
at the right hand of the throne of God, as meditator between 
man and my Father in Heaven. 

"I sweated as it were great drops of blood, andpra} r ed to my 
Father to spare those pains, to let them pass, if anything- else 
could be done to save poor, fallen man; but I said to my Father, 
even in my agony, not my will, but thine be done, The strug- 



72 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

gle was fierce and terrible, but soon over, and the victory was 
mine, and in that struggle I tasted death for every man, and 
all that I suffered and did was required to save good old Abra- 
ham; and it took all of my blood to make a covering- for him; 
yet it was sufficient to make a covering- for all of Adam's pos- 
terity. My blood cleanses from all sins. I became the propi- 
tiation for the sins, not only of Abraham, but also for Isaac and 
Jacob and all the rest of the Jews; and not for the J ews only, 
but also for every man." 

Man: "Then everybody will be saved. 1 ' 

Christ: "No so, but every one that belie veth on me shall 
have everlasting- life, but he that believeth not shall never see 
life." 

Man: "I believe on you; I believe you are truly the Son of 
God, and that your blood cleanses from all sins." 

Christ: "That is a very good confession, but you read in the 
great book, 'For with the heart man believeth unto righeous- 
ness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' 
Rom x:10. Do you believe with your heart that I am the Son 
of God, and that I am able to save you from all of your sins, and 
that my blood cleanses from all sins?" 

Man: "I believe that with my whole heart. " 

Christ: "Then you love me with your whole heart, and pre- 
fer my will to your own?" 

Man: "I would like to have my own way about some little 
things, such as selecting the church that I shall join, or in fact 
I believe I had rather not join any church at all, and if I have 
to be baptized I rather select the mode myself, and I would like 
to visit respectable parties and dance parties and dance occas- 
ionally, and in passing resspectable saloons I would like to go 
in and take a social drink with my friends." 

Christ: "I perceive that you are far from God, that you are 
in the gall of bitterness, and the bonds of iniquity, that you are 
in darkness and will not come to the light, that you might see. 
We told you that when man failed to keep the second law, the 
moral law, which required man to love God with ajl his heart, 
with all his mine, soul and strength, and his neighbor as him- 
self, that man's righteousness, man's good works to save him- 
self was at an end. We gave you two chances to save your- 
selves by your upright living and good works, and }^ou failed 
each time, and then I took your place and lived a life of right- 
eousness for man, was wounded for his transgressions, my blood 
was spilt for him to wash in, and now man can be saved alone b}' 
my blood and righteousness. Under the reign of the moral law 
but little is said about prayer, for men were then trying to live 
by their own righteousness and good works, but now you are 
under the reign of grace, and should live near the mercy seat, 
where God answers prayer, should pray always, for you have 
become bankrupted and are dependent upon God for everything, 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 73 

both temperal and spiritual. But you profess Godliness and 
deny the power thereof, and it is the power of Godliness that " 
overcomes the world, it is the power of Godliness that makes you 
wise unto salvation, it is the power of Godliness that enables 
man to wash his robe in my blood, by the power of Godliness 
man is led to repentance, faith, regeneration, reconciliation with 
God. Yet you deny its power and seek to choose you own way, 
rather than submit to God's way. They that are after the flesh 
like you are, do mind the things of the flesh, and like you do 
seek the things that are palatable to the carnal man. But they 
that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. Faith 
without works is dead. As profession without works corre- 
sponding- is a false profession and bears no good fruit. A tree 
is known by the fruit it bears, and if a man says he trusts in me 
for life and salvation, but wants to live aceording to his own 
taste and judgment, at least in part, he deceives himself, and ss 
not saved, for a man cannot serve God and mamon, a man can- 
not partly save himself, and God do the balance of the saving. 
There is no mixture of works in the salvation of man, for it is by 
grace that man is saved, through faith and that not of himself, 
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, 
for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good 
works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in 
them. Kph. 2:8-10. So you must see that the battle is not to ■ 
the strong, nor the race to the swift, but to God who giveth you 
the victory through me. For there is no other name given un- 
der Heaven, or among men, whereby men can be saved. There- 
fore to be saved you must submit your case, the saving of your 
soul wholly to me, for my power is complete. My Father, in 
Heaven, has given tome all power in Heaven and upon the earth, 
and exalted me to the glorious position of Soul Saving. By my 
obedience to the law, and the shedding of my blood, you are rec- 
onciled to God, if you accept what I have done. But out of me 
God is a consuming fire, that is if you are brought by the Gos- 
pel and influence of the Holy Spirit to feel that you are a sinner, 
poor and needy, that your righteousness, or anything that } t ou 
have control of, that you would present to God for righteousness, 
is insignificant, impure and altogether filthy, that } t ou are a 
ruined wretch, not worthy even to turn your eyes toward God. 
Then } t qu are ready to exclaim: 'I am lost, ten thousand tal- 
ents in debt and not one farthing to pay the debt! Oh, lost man 
that I amr This is humbling yourself under the mighty hand 
of God; this is yielding to the teachings of the Gospel, which is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to 
the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. Again the apostle says, 
'Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
shall give thee light.' The natural man, that is the man that is 
born of the will of the corrupt man (just as you were born), is 
dead in tresspasses and sins, that is dead to any hungering or 



74 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

thirsting- after righteousness, holiness and God, And sleep is 
a state of unconsciousness, in which the mind is not controlled by 
reason and judgment, but turned loose to wander; to wander as 
it may, like a ship at sea without a rudder. In one hour the 
sleeping - man's mind will sail all around the earth, and view all 
the splendid valleys and mountains, and grand cities of earth, 
and in another hour soar aloft into the ethereal reg-ions, and view 
all the planets of the celestial world, and in another hour shoul- 
der his g-un and fight throug-h the entire four years of the late 
war in the United States, and in another half hour buy a lot- 
tery ticket, draw $100,000, and start to the bank to deposit his 
money, which he has drawn, in $20 g-old pieces, and as he passes 
along- an alley is held up by robbers, and his monev all taken 
from him, and he ordered to turn his back for the robbers to dis- 
charge their pistols in his body, and while he is holding- his 
breath listening- for the report of the g-uns that were to land him 
in the Spirit world, his wife says: 'John, g-et up, its day.' 
Consciousness returns, and he is g-lad that the latter part is a 
delusion, but sorry the first part was not true. Again in five 
minutes he will receive a letter informing him that a relative in 
a distant state has bequeathed to him a large f of tune in gold and 
silver. He starts and walks three hundred miles, takes some of 
his silver and buys a fine span of mules and hack, loads on his 
silver and gold and gets on home with it, gets out of his hack 
and commences carrying his glittering wealth into his humble 
cottage, with a peck bucket. It being pretty heavy, being filled 
with gold, he stumps his toe and falls, scattering his precious 
metal all over the yard. The fall awakes him; consciousness 
returns, he opens his eyes and finds the fall was from the bed, 
and that there was not a dollar there. Awful disappointment. 
' 'Those who are dead in tresspasses and sins are like unto dream- 
ers, not conscious of their true situation. One thinks in a kind 
of a dreamy way that there is no other world but this, and that 
it is a mere gambling shop, and the man that fails to get his 
share is a drone, etc. Another is inclined to think that if he is 
honest and upright in his dealings that he will be all right. 
Another is persuaded that if he does as well morally as some of 
the church members he is safe. Another is impressed that God 
is so good that he will not damn any one in hell forever. An- 
other is. inclined to think that if he will confess with his mouth 
that he is sorry, and have a sort of faith in me, that he will be 
accepted. But when these men are quickened and brought to 
consciousness, they will be like the man that stumped his toe, 
fell and spilled his gold, and awoke to see only that he had fallen 
from his bed, and not a dollar there, but was miserably disap- 
pointed. Those who are asleep and dead in tresspasses and 
sins, are powerless to wake themselves; nothing but the power 
of God can wake them. The Gospel is the power of God unto 
salvation to every one that believes." 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 75 

Man: "Then why is every one not saved that is in a Gospel 
land?" 

Christ: "Because every one does not believe.'" 

Man: "Can all believe?" 

Christ: kk All that hear the Gospel can believe." 

Man: 'Don't all hear the Gospel that go to church and hear 
the preachers?" 

Christ: "No, for some preachers don't preach the Gospel, 
and some men won't hear the Gospel when it is preached to 
them." 

Man: "How is that?" 

Christ: "Some boys are not inclined to rise earty cold morn- 
ings, and when papa or mama calls them to get up and start a 
fire, they hear the sound, but by the force of their own wills 
sleep on, without understanding- or caring- what papa or mama 
says. Others who have made up their minds to be g-ood boys 
and obey their parents, have invited their parents at bed time 
to call them early in the morning-, and although they may be 
sound asleep when called, they hear, understand and arise and 
start a fire. So it is by men's hearing- the Gospel. Some men 
g-o to the house of God, and the minister preaches the Gospel; 
the}^ hear the sound, but don't understand; they don't wish to un- 
derstand, they want a little more sleep and slumber, and folding 
their arms tog-ether for sleep, and they*leave the house in a worse 
state than before, for the devil's grip has become strong-er. 
Others g-o and they hear the Gospel, understand, believe and are 
saved; they invited God to call them by the Gospel, and in an- 
swer to prayer God called and saved them. Under the reig-n of 
grace all men ought to pray everywhere, for all men, holding up 
holy hands, without wrath and doubting; for men are extremely 
poor, but God is rich in mercy, and I have a rich and everlasting 
feast above, for all that will humble themselves and comply with 
the rules of our kingdom. Now, I have given you line upon 
line and precept upon precept, and illustration after illustra- 
tion, and now I shall leave you to exercise your free moral agency; 
you may resist the devil and cleave to me, and Heaven will be 
your eternal home, or you may believe the devil, as Eve did, 
and be lost forever. Good-bye'. Think and choose for your- 
self." 

Soon after Christ left the man's house the devil made his ap- 
pearance, rapped at the door and said: "Let me in." 

Man: "I don't want you in here, go on." 

Devil: "Just let me in a little while, this one time; I neg- 
lected to show you one picture in the southwest corner of your 
house, when on my first visit; please let me in and show you just 
that one picture and I will leave." 

Man thinks it will do no harm to let him in this one time and 
see the picture, so he opens the door, and the devil enters in." 



76 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

Devil: "Look now in the southwest corner of the house, 
don't you see that pulpit?" 

Man: "Yes." 

Devil: "Do vou see that tall man sitting to the left of the 
stand?" 

Man: "Yes." 

Devil: "That is a Nicolitain preacher. Don't you see those 
two men to the left?" 

Man: "Yes." 

Devil: "They are deacons and those setting - in front of the 
stand are members of the church. After sitting- there a consid- 
erable time, Bro. Smith, one of the deacons, addressed Bro. 
Jones, the preacher, thus: 'Bro. Jones I think we have all the 
congregation that it was ordained we should have to-day, and if 
the Lord has given you a message for us it is time you were giv- 
ing it to us; it is now dinner time.' Bro. Jones attempts to rise, 
but falls back; he tries again with the same falling back; then 
Bro. Snider and another deacon step forward and assist him 
into the stand; he grabs the stand to keep from falling, steadies 
himself and says: 'Brethren, I am not drunk, but I must ac- 
knowledge I have taken a little too much of the good creter this 
morning; but, my dear brethren, we all known, that is all of God's 
elect know, that whatsoever is was ordained of God to be so 
from before the foundation of the world. Therefore, God fore- 
ordained that I should be nearly drunk in this house of God this 
morning, in this holy stand, reeling and staggering, and hold- 
ing- on to this Holy Bible board to keep from falling. God is 
looking down with complacency this very morning, for he knows 
that he fore-ordained me to do and act just as I am doing and 
acting. Let us pray: 'O, Lord, we thank thee most holy 
Father, that in thy wisdom thou didst before the foundation 
pillows of the earth were planted, look with thy long seeing fu- 
ture eye, and choose, elected and predestinate us to be con- 
formed to the image of thy Son. O, Holy Father, thy Son never 
got drunk, but we do, we love whiskey; that don't seem much 
like we are conformed to his image, but that is a trouble of your 
own; you may explain it yourself, we can't, but we know that 
thou didst choose the weak things of this world to confound the 
mighty. We thank thee, Holy Father, that we have no book 
learning, that we are weak and ignorant to confound the wis- 
dom of this world, that we can't speak a word only as thou giv- 
est it to us at -the time. O, Lord, bless us with plenty of good 
warm clothes, and plenty to eat and plenty of whiskey and to- 
bacco, and in the world to come a seat at thy right hand with 
the rest of thy chosen few, as thou didst fore-ordain it before the 
foundation of the world, before thou didst make us, and be 
pleased to damn ever} 7 body else in hell as thou didst ordain that 
it should be before the foundation of the world. These favors 
we ask in the name of Him that so loved the world that he came 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELEC '/' 77 

into this world to seek and to save those who are lost. Amen." 
"Dear brethren elect, according- to the foreknowledge of God 
(), how I love you my dear brethren! You who were chosen to 
eternal life before old Adam was made, or even the stuff of 
which he was made from. The missionaries may cut up and 
abuse our good old safe doctrine and our whiskey that God has 
made for our health and comfort. It is one of God's creatures 
and God made it for the use of man; yes, and women too, for my 
wife loves it about as well as I do, and my younger daughter, Pol, 
likes it pretty well too, and I don't care who knows it. If any 
of the bovs don't like her because she loves her toddy, they can 
just exactly let her alone, for I would rather she would marn~ 
some of the select ones any how. Yes, the missionaries may cut 
up and wear store clothes and holdup their heads and- look 
knowing, select their smartest young men, and send them to 
their colleges, and give them lots of human larnin' and send 
them to China, South America, Cuba, India and to Mexico to 
preach to the heathen; but there is one thing certain, they will 
n^ver change God's purposes, they will never be instrmental in 
saving one sonl who was not elected and predestinated to eter- 
nal life before the foundation of the world. Kverj^one who was 
chosen of God to be saved, will be saved and no more. Ah! I 
have been waiting for God to give me a text. He has given me 
one and written it upon my heart, and from my feelings I be- 
lieve he is going to give me a sermon. You know I only speak 
what God gives me right at the time. I think now that God is 
going to give me a good mess for you poor, hungn^ children of 
my father, who he has elected to heirship before the foundation 
of the world. You will find our text in Paul's letter to the 
Eph. 1:4. You know that the Ephesians, brother, were or- 
dained to eternal life long before the mudsills of this old earth 
were laid; therefore the text reads thus: 'According as he has 
chosen in him before the foundation of the world, that we should 
be holy and without blame before him in love.' 

"Brethren, I am not much on systematic preaching, dividing 
and subdivid ng subjects. This subject, however, the grandest 
subject in the Bible, is naturally divided into four grand divis- 
ions. 1. God did make a choice. 2. The way he made the choice. 
3. When he made the choice. 4. The effect the call had upon the 
chosen. Now to the first division, 'According as he has chosen 
us in himself.' It is as clear as a sunbeam that God did make a 
choice, the Bible makes it plain, and I shall not stop here to ar- 
gue with those who are so ignorant and blind as to deny the 
plain teaching of the God's Word. 

Division. 2. The way he made the choice. This a great 
nrystery to the most of people; but I will give } t ou the best light 
I have on the subject. Now you see God made man for His own 
glory, so He declares Himself, but after the fall man became so 
depraved that God was not contained, ev.en in the imagination 



78 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

of their thoughts and God seeing- that man was so depraved that 
he would not come to Him and having" a few vacant rooms in 
Heaven. He determined not to be disappointed; but He is 
no respector of persons. This He declares Himself, as He only 
wants a few of Adam's seed to fill the vacancies in Heaven, but 
He must not show partiality. He must make a show to the peo- 
ple that He wants them all saved and invites them all to come to 
Him and be saved, but all must be rejected but just enough to 
fill the vacant seats in Heaven. Now at this stage of the g-ame 
man's wisdom would say, God was getting- into a tight place; 
but not so. God is an all-wise, all loving and almighty God, 
and He will work Himself out of all such tights as that. God 
says to His Son, 'We have just twelve vacant rooms and the 
twelve vacant rooms will accommodate twelve thousand each 
making one hundred and forty-four thousand. So you see we 
want to save just that many and no more of the human family, 
and in order not to show partiality, not to be a respector of per- 
sons, we will call twelve angels who know nothing about what 
we are up to, and place one of the twelve angels in each of the 
twelve rooms and give to each angel a book containing the names 
of all the people that are to live on the earth, with instructions 
for each angel to select twelve thousand names out of all the 
names and place them in separate books and bring them to us 
and I will give them to you. Register their names in your book, 
I will save them. They shall be a willing people in the day of 
my power. They shall be my people and I shall be their God. 
Now brethren, we feel that we have cleared up and fairly illus- 
trated this second grand division of this very important subject 
and we now come to the third grand division, which refers to 
time. When did God choose His people? Before the founda- 
tion of the world. In the beginning God created the Heavens 
and the earth, therefore God chose His people in Christ before 
the beginning and that is as far back as our finite minds can 
reach. And now we take up the fourth grand division of the 
subject. The effect the call had upou the chosen. The text 
tells us that it made them holy and without blame before 
God in love. Then this is the effect God's calling has upon His 
elect; it makes them without blame before God and God cannot 
look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, therefore God's 
choosing or electing His people frees them from the shackles of 
sin, or they could not be blameless before God in love. God's 
elect are jewels; they live holy lives in this world. Here deacon 
Snider arises to His feet and points his index finger at the 
preacher and says: "Look out there, Bro. Jones! you are tramp- 
ling upon my toes, for I am one of God's chosen ones and I have 
the evidence in my breast that I am one of God's elect, and I 
know that I am a sinner, I do wrong every day that I live, bui I 
repent every time that I think, say or do anything wrong 
and pray to God to forgive me; I feel in my soul that He does 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 79 

forgive me, feel that He reclaims me, loves me feeely for the 
sake of Jesus who died for me and I am sure that I am one of 
Gods elect, chosen in Christ before the world was; because Hove 
the brethren, and rather go to the hous of mourning- than the 
house of mirth, therofore, my dear brother, I am bound to think 
that you are wrong-, that your head is wool-gathering, that your 
head "is turned. I am afraid that you stopped too long- at your 
son's saloon this morning- and drank a little too much of that 
stuff you call 'good cretur,' and you don't understand what you 
are talking about and I .feel as if it was sacreligious to allow a 
man to go into that holy stand to talk for God and expound His 
holv word to His elect children, while he is under the influence 
of that hot beverage of the old serpent." 

Bro. Jones — "Bro. Snider, you have grossly insulted me in two 
cases. First, in speaking contemptibly of that delightful and 
exhilerating toddy of which we are all so fond, and secondly for 
insinuating that I was drunk. I shall hold you responsible in 
conference for your uncharitable and unchristian behaviour to- 
ward me, while in the holy stand breaking the bread of life 
to God's holy elect. But I must hold my temper, this is no place 
for unholy wrangling. We must come to the law and testimony. 
In the first place, God declares emphatically in the text under con- 
sideration that he had chosen those Fphesians in him before the 
foundation of the world that they might be holy before Him in 
love, without blame. This don't smack like that wrong think- 
ing, speaking and doing of Bro. Snider's, and for confirmation 
of this, I'll quote from Rev. 14: 'And I looked and lo, a lamb 
stood on the Mount Zion, with a hundred and forty-four thou- 
sand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads and 
I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of man}^ waters and as 
a voice of great thunder and I heard the voice of harpers harp- 
ing with their harps, and they sung a new song as it were, be- 
fore the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders and no 
man could learn that song but the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand which were redeemed from the earth. These were 
they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. 
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. 
These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits 
unto God and unto the Lamb. And in their mouth was found 
no guile, for they were without fault before the throne of God." 

Brethren, my light is leaving me; I brought up these Scrip- 
tures to convict Bro. Snider, but it confuses me, for I find by 
the same Scriptures that we are all condemned, not one of us 
bears the marks of the elect. I am in a tight, without holiness 
it is impossible to please God, and the image of the beast had 
power to compel everyone to worship him or to receive his mark 
in their hand, or the murder of the beast, except the one hun- 
dred and forty-four thousand. And all that had the mark or 
number *of the beast, was turned into the lake that burns 



80 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

with fire and brimstone. None of us belong- to that one hun- 
dred and forty-f our thousand, for,, in the first place, none of us 
have the characteristics, and secondVy they were all Jews taken 
from the twelve tribes of Israel. We are gone world without 
end. Brethren, what is the matter? I can't see one inch from 
my nose. The elect are clearly the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand, and they are of the Jews; nobody had any chance at 
Heaven but a little handful of old Jews. O, what kind of a 
God have I been loving- and trying- to adore for twent} T years! 
I used to enjoy it when I thoug-ht God loved me so well that He 
had elected me and a few others like unto me, to be saved in 
Heaven and be at rest forever, while there were millions upon 
millions of people, as g-ood hy nature as I was, left out in the 
wilderness of sin, without hope, and without God in the world; 
no salvation offered them upon any terms whatever. I felt that 
I was honored, that I was a jewel in God's crown; I enjoyed it; 
I thoug-ht God was just, and holy and altogether lovey; but 
since the- tables are turned and there is nobody to be saved but a 
little handful of old Jews, and I am left without a chance to be 
be saved, I don't feel g-ood, it don't look right and it can't be 
just. Critic interrups: 'Bro. Jones, come down out of that pul- 
pit; you have g-ot everything- in a tang-led up mess; if you keep 
on you will make every one of us infidels. 1 Jones: 'Albright ; 
eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow you die.' " The curtain 
fell. 

The devil then said to the man: "I saw that you were some- 
what inclined to join some church, and I have presented this 
church meeting- to test your taste for, and faith in church ar- 
rang-ements. What did you think of the picture?" 

Man: "I think it one of the most ridiculous pictures I ever 
looked at. It certainly was one of the most disg-usting- and re- 
pulsive picsures I ever beheld." 

That preacher told his brethren that he never preached any 
thing-, but what God g-ave him rig-ht at the time; and if he told 
the truth I have no inclination to serve his God. I never could 
g-et my consent to worship a Irrpocritical God. The preacher 
was like the politician's snake, he wig-g-led in, and he wig-g-led 
out, and he wig-g-led all about, but no man could follow his trail. 
The last remark he made was, "Kat, drink and be merry to-day, 
for to-morrow you die;" and he borrowed that from old Solomon; 
the wisest man that has ever lived, and the grandest rascal that 
ever lived, for after he had enjoyed all wisdom, and luxury, and 
enjoyment with his 300 wives, and 700 concabines, for fear that 
some other wise young- man mig-ht aspire to climb to the same 
exalted state of bliss and happiness, he had attained (when he 
was old and broken down) drew himself up in his shell like an 
old sea turtle, and exclamed in most doleful notes, 'Vanity of 
vanities, all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.'" Now, the king 
of darkness is so elated with his success, he rises and gathers 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT 81 

the man with his arms and draws him to his bosom, and exclaims, 
u Mv son, mv own son, yon have advanced rapidly, you have 
gratuated already, and will give you a diploma with first honors. 
Yes, I can trust you now in any part of my dominion. Remem- 
ber, now my son, that this church which I have exhibited to 
von is a fair specimen of all the churches. The primitive or 
hard shell Baptist you will generally find them abusing- other 
churches, and denouncing- them as human societies. The mis- 
sionary Baptist ycu will find wanting- money to pay their pastor, 
their missionary, etc., to build church houses and to send 
preachers to preach to the heathen, and to feed their widows 
and orphans, and to educate their young- preachers. The 
Methodist you will find wanting- money, money, money to sup- 
port their superanuated preachers, to pay the circuit riders, to 
help the widows and orphans, and to build church houses, etc. 
The Presbyterians love the towns and fine houses and people 
that have plenty of money, and are great sticklers for an edu- 
cated ministry and wont have any other, and they preach that 
some old Nicolaitairs doctrine you have heard this morning-, 
only they have learned preachers, and they whitewash it a little 
and sug-ar-coat it to make it a little more plausible. The Epis- 
copalians are a good deal like the Presbyterians, only they hold 
up their heads and push the big fig-ure and look wise, and are 
rather on the aristocratic order, and stick to the larg-e cities and 
want big- salaries for their preachers. The Congreg-ationalists 
are similar to the Episcopalians, only they are more on the 
democratic order. The Roman Catholics are heavy; they work 
in the dark, and by-the-by, they don't do me much harm. 

"These churches and all the rest of them are detrimental to 
true manhood and intellectuality. Watch them with a vigilant 
eye and be not so far deceived by any of them as to give up your 
freedom. Do all you can for your dear, old father. Good-by, 
by darling son; good-by my precious intelectual co-laborer in the 
interest of hell. I know that by the help of such a stalwart, 
intellectual, giant man, as you are, we can move up things 
in this section; watch the preachers as they sing and whine 
around trying to burst up the fundamental pillars of hell itself. 
Say but little, but watch. They will some times get up what 
they call a revival, and many people join their so-called 
churches. Watch close and at the right time; when you have 
the right crowd around you casuallv remark, 'Those joing the 
church are shallow, weak, superstitious, while the intellectual 
look on with scorn.' That will work. Watch on an occasion- 
ally remark to the right crow T d, in the right plaice 'its 
money they want,' that will put a flea in in the ear; 
and then toward the close of the meeting they will 
come right out and ask for mone} r , and then look around at the 
right crowd and wink, and give a knowing nod, and sa}% 'I told 
you so.' You need not say any more. That will work. Yes 



82 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

they will build up, but we will tear down. Good-by, my noble 
agent, and ma} 7 the richest blessing - of hell rest upon you. I 
don't mean that fictitious myth that religious fanatics describe 
as a place of misery and wretchedness; but I mean that place of, 
or kingdom of, intellectuality, in which man reigns supremely, 
and gratifies every wish of the flesh and every desire of the 
mind; and free loveism reigns triumphantly. That is the kind of 
a hell I love and recommend to all my intellectual fellowmen. 
Good-by, good-b} T . Be faithful to your great leader." 

Now, beloved reader, if you are inclined to like the doctrine 
of intellectuality just set forth, remember that it is the doctrine 
of the devil, that he was trying to subtlety and hypocricy, to 
deceive and corrupt that poor man; not only to capture him and 
drag- him down in chains into eternal night, but also to make 
him a fit tool to influence others to embrace his doctrines, or 
that he might have the pleasure of opening- his wide gate, which 
stands at the lower end of the broad road that leads to wretch- 
edness and see them tumble in and commence their everlasting 
employment of weeping and gnashing of teeth. O! what an 
awful thing it is to be led captive by the devil at his will! 
What a chain of misery follows the yielding of our first parents 
in the garden. What fearful consequences; the earth was 
crushed, misery and pain, shame and disgrace was brought 
the woman; hard labor, shame and consciousness of unworthy - 
ness upon the man. Cain slew his brother, being led by the 
devil. Hear him, "My punishment is greater than I can 
bear." The Antidiluvians were led off by the devil and were 
destroyed by a flood. Lot was led down into Sodom by the 
devil where he lost his children and his property, and fled to 
the mountains to save his own life. Dearly beloved friends be 
not deceived by the devil; he is a liar and the father of lies. 

Then why men of intellect, men who have pride in their 
wisdom, stood to be deceived by a professional liar, a noted 
hypocrite, is hard for me to understand. Man, your happiness 
and your misery are both in your own hands; you can be led by 
the devil and be miserable, or you can resist the devil and draw 
near to God and be happy as a child of God forever. O, make 
the wise choice, and come out on the Lord's side. Josh. 24:15. 

In order to give a still plainer illustration of the power, con- 
dition and accouutability of man we will present an allegory or 
parable, as follows: 

One hundred and fifty years ago, a good and enterprising man 
and his wife lived in the colony of Georgia, on a cozy farm, 
with a beautiful river running through it, abounding with fish 
of ever} 7 desirable variety, the soil was very productive, the 
seasons were regular and they were sure to have a rich harvest 
in the fall. The forest abounded in wild fowls and animals of 
every variety calculated to give pleasure, sport and profit to the 
hunter. The range was very fine* Horses, cows, sheep, goats 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 83 

and hogs all kept fat and nice winter, spring-, summer and 
autumn. Bees also did well — thev had honey in abundance all the 
year around; and milk and butter in the same way. There was 
no scarcity of any thing- that would make them comfortable. 
They had thirteen sons: Solomon, John, James, William, 
Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Jonathan, 
Joshua and Caleb. And when they were grown and educated, a 
tramp came to their father's house from South America, and 
related that he had walked all the way from where he was raised 
and g-ave a glowing- description of all the country he had passed 
through, and especially of a paradise he had found in Central 
America, where, he said, corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, peas, 
potatoes, cabbag-e, collards, lettuce, onions, garlic, leeks, 
peaches, plums, quinces, pears, prunes and apples, all grow 
spontaneously every month in the year, and that in abundance. 
He described the place as being an island, twenty-five miles 
long and five miles wide, surrounded by a larg*e, deep river, with 
high perpendicular banks, so that no annimal could g-et in or 
out, and they could take what horses and milch cows and hogs 
they would need by putting- them in a boat and letting it down 
the bank of the river on this side with a rope and windless, carry 
it accross and then windless boat, stock and all up the farther 
bank into the island. And that they could have as much of 
everything as they wanted and no more and that on the island were 
twelve highly polished stone mansions, grandly furnished with 
everything for the convenience of man, and a beautiful spring of 
pure free stone water gushing fourth from the ground near each 
mansion, and many more fanciful things painted he to them, 
until he got them thoroughly infatuated with his ideal dream; 
and then the young men began to say one after another, il 
want to go with you to that paradise.' Then the tramp re- 
marked: "Gentlemen, I must be honest with }xm, and not 
deceive you in anything; there is some danger to encounter be- 
tween here and there. Numerous tribes of savage people infest 
the country between here and the desirable paradise mentioned, 
and also many ferocious wild beasts to encounter; but I made it 
through alone, armed simply with this musket, bayonet and 
sword; and if I made it through by myself o. k., there cannot 
possibly be any doubt about my going back the same route 
that I came, accompanied by a dozen or so of such hard} T , brave 
men as you are; it will only be a fine frolic." All the young 
men consented to go with him except Solomon, who was less 
credulous than his brothers; he refused to go, and remonstrated 
with his brethren, as did the father and the mother plead, as 
only a mother can; but go they would. The father said, k boys 
you are all of age, you can act for yourselves. I would not at- 
tempt by coercion to prevent your going. So if you will not hear 
us you will have to go, and you alone will be to blame for all 
the sufferings your decision will bring upon you.' He then 



84 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

called each one these young- men who had been beguiled by this 
subtle tramp, and gave each his portion in gold and silver, and 
then he and Solomon bade them farewell. The mother, after 
bathing their necks with tears, gave them a long farewell. Then 
the twelve ungrateful sons turned their backs upon their once 
lovely home, their noble brother, loving father arid precious 
mother. Why did they do such a rash thing? Because they 
were beguiled by this lying tramp, who had been convicted of 
treason in his own country, and banished to Central America to 
roam with wild tribes of Indians, and was surrounded by feroc- 
ious beasts and poisonous serpents and stinging insects. He be- 
came so thoroughly disgusted with his surroundings that he 
made his way out of that wild region into the Georgia colony. 

This tramp and the boys are now going westward, fighting 
Indians, encountering wild beasts and serpents as they go; and 
often entering marshes, great swamps, and coming to lakes, 
rivers etc. ; and sometimes getting into thickets almost impen- 
trable, and sometimes would come to prickly pear orchards that 
would be so thick that they would have to cut trails through 
with their swords. After a hard year's travel they reached 
Central America, all worn out, wounded and bruised, and in 
bad shape generally. 

They camped several months, hunted, fished, and bathed, until 
they recuperated. Then they srarted out again to find that fan- 
cied paradise. They marched west, south, east, north, and to 
every point of the compass, year after year, all the time con- 
tending with savages, wild beasts, lakes, rivers, swamps, etc. 
When they left home they had their horses laden with meal, 
salt, etc., but soon this gave out, and then they had to eat their 
game like the wild tribes. Sometimes when the bo} 7 s would be 
wounded and sick, they would want somethiug to eat, but noth- 
ing they had suited them; then they would think of that devoted 
mother, how tenderly she would ask what the} T would like to 
have to eat; and how that their father would have the ver} r best 
doctor to dress their wounds and prescribe for them; and would 
sometimes exclaim, 'O, if I only had a bowl of soup like that that 
my dear mother use to fix for me, it would cure me sound and 
well! God bless my dear loving mother! If I should ever get back 
to my father's glorious home I will stay there till I die. If 
father will only give me a servant's place for I am -no longer 
worthy to be called his son. ' When some of the others would repre- 
hend him for being silly, and would ask if he wanted to be like 
a pet cat or poodle dog, to lie around in the house to mew and 
purr and bark and whine and lick the hand that fed and petted, 
etc., etc. Come out of that my boy and be a man. You know 
what our father said to us when we left home; that we were of 
age to think, speak and act for ourselves, and that is what I am 
going to do. You will soon get well and then we will start out 
again. I yet believe we will find that paradise, and that it will 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 85 

be as represented by our leader. Then we will test the water 
and the climate, and if all is satisfactory we will make a treaty 
with some of these Indians, and take them with us to help fight 
our way back to Georgia. Then we will get the old man to sell 
his farm and we will buy wagons and teams, and after getting 
many good familes to come with us, we will start out with 
Solomon, father and mother for this paradise, and will bring 
with us all needed tools, etc. Then we will settle up this para- 
dise and the surrounding, beautiful countrv, and drive the 
Indians back, and have a delightful country settled by the best 
people of Georgia. Then our names will go down in the an- 
nals of histor} T with laurals of glory and honor. We will 
be called brave, energetic, honorable and the discoverers of this 
glorious country. Yes, we will even be known as the heroes of 
this world. Thus the boys went on month after month, until 
the}- were thoroughly convinced that no such place existed. They 
cow-hided their captain, and then went back to a semi-civilized 
tribe of Indians, with whom they had become acquainted. The 
chief of this tribe and several others could speak English. They 
became attached to this tribe, and the attachment was mutual. 
The chief assured them that there was no such place as the 
paradise, they were hunting- as he had been on every foot of the 
ground in Central America; and cordially invited them to live 
with him; which they consented to do. On the day that these 
boys left home, the father, mother and Solomon watched them 
as far as they could see them, and then went into the house 
and prayed God to bless these dear, wandering- boys. Then 
wiped away their tears and went about their work. 

Soon after this a great drouth came and the river that ran 
through their farm nearly dried up; and one day when the old 
man and Solomon Were wading it, they found pearls and dia- 
monds in the bottom of the river. They picked up a few and 
carried them to the house and showed them to the old lady; they 
eached picked up a bucket, and they were about to strike a trot, 
when they thought that this was a gift from God, hence they 
knelt down, and thanked God for His goodness and loving kind- 
ness toward them; and prayed that this great blessing- might 
result in the return of their dear boys. Then after consecrating 
themselves and all that they had to God, they arose and ran to 
the river, and filled their buckets with diamonds, and returned 
home thanking and praising God. This was continued till the 
bed of diamonds was exhausted; and a rain came and overflowed 
the river. However, ere this took place they had filled a room 
full of diamonds. And a wealthy English company hearing of 
the matter, came over and gave hime two billions of dollars for 
the diamonds. He then bought a lot of fine lands and built 
some mills and factories, and built him a mansion, having every 
thing to suit his or rather their taste, (the old lady and Solomon 
included). They had every luxury that their hearts could 



86 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

wish. All his business prospered. He was extremely wealthy; 
yet their happiness was incomplete. One day the old man said 
to his wife, in a sorrowful tone: "We had thirteen sons, but 
alas! where are they now? Solomon, a good, dutiful son, who 
has never left us, is entitled to all we have at our death; but we 
have even more than-enough for thirteen men. But, O where are 
our other twelve boys!" The mother responds "My God! is there 
no way to get them back home? Can't we hire men to go and 
hunt them up, for we have plenty of money and to spare." The 
father says, "We can make a bargain with some brave men to go 
and tell them of our riches and of our willingness to forgive them, 
and even make them equal heirs with Solomon, provided, they 
will return and confess their wrong, and acknowledge that our 
way of living is better than their way, etc. But we must not 
have them brought back by coercion ; that would be interfering 
with their personal liberty, and infringing upon their free moral 
agency. They are of age, and must be left free to exercise their 
own judgment, and to act accordingly. The mother sanctioned 
what the old man said, and the young men of the country were 
called in. Soon a dozen were found who were willing to try to gain 
a part of the old man's great fortune, hence, a bargain was 
closed and they started, but alas ! they were never heard of 
again. About two years later a brave adventurer came, and 
said that if the old man would give him $100,000 that he would 
bring the boys home. The bargain was sealed. This adven- 
turer engaged fifty men, and they were gone two years before 
they were heard from, when one of the number returned, and 
told of their trials, and death of all the rest, and said he had 
wished many times that he had died with the rest, for he had 
suffered death a hundred times. Then the Throddle family 
almost despaired of ever seeing their boys again ; but just at 
this time a man came to the mansion, and upon hearing the 
name Throddle, says: "What ! is that your name ? How do you 
spell it ?" * He then took a note out of his pocket book and con- 
tinued, "Have you an}^ sons in Central America ?" Throddle: 
"I had twelve sons who started there several years ago, but I've 
never heard a word from them since they left." Traveler : 
"Well, now you shall hear from them. All twelve of them 
(here giving their names,) are living near the western boundary 
of Central America with a noble tribe of semi-barbarian Indians; 
and were all well when I left there about ten months ago ; and 
here is a note I received from Moses, one of the boys, before I 
left that country, asking me to do him a little favor." The fam- 
ily gazed eagerly upon the note and decided that it was the hand 
writing of Moses. They shed tears of gladness, for they had 
straight news from the lost boys. Then a faint hope arises in 
their hearts that they might yet see these loved ones. Throd- 
dle: "Would there be any chance to get a letter to these, my 
sons?" Traveler: "A very slim chance; ninety-nine against 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 87 

one. I left there with fifty as brave men as ever shouldered a 
musket ; and as well armed and mounted as it was possible for 
them to be. Then I am as familiar with military tactics as any 
man living - . From the fact that I had a natural taste and talent 
for such thing's ; and then I graduated in one of the best mili- 
tary schools in the world. Besides, I have filled every office 
from the lowest up to the commander-in-chief. And I have 
fought through hundreds of closely contested battles, and 
always came out victorious. But when we struck the savages, 
and would kill a thousand, there would be ten times that num- 
ber to take their places. I lost every man that I had with me, 
anl had it not been for nry great power of endurance, good wind, 
and suple legs, they would have killed me, too." Throddle (in 
a subdued tone): "No amount of money would induce you to try 
and get my sons here?" Traveler : "Money alone would not 
tempt me to undertake such a thing-, but I am a sympathetic 
man ; and the tears of this family move my heart ; and I know 
that if any man in the world can bring- these boys I can, and if 
my proposition suits you, I shall at once proceed." Throddle: 
"What is your proposition?" 

Traveler: "You to furnish me with two hundred men, two 
hundred fine chargers, one hundred strong- pack horses, men all 
to be armed with g-ood rifles, pistols, swords and all the neces- 
saries we can carry on the pack horses. You pay the expense 
of the expedition every way, and if I make a success of it — bring- 
all of your boys home that will consent to come — you then adopt 
me into your family and make me equal with your own sons." 
Bro. T.: "It's a trade." In a few days the party was armed 
and equipped according- to the order of the g-eneral, and the lit- 
tle army moved off in good military style towards C. A. In 
about two years one of the party returned and reported'all the rest 
dead. The undertaking was then given up for some months. 
But one night after family prayer was over Bro. T. said: 
"Solomon, my son, is it not possible that we can conceive 
some plan by which we can communicate to my sons and your 
brothers our feelings towards them, to induce them to come 
home?". Sister Throddle : "Say yes, Solomon, and let us have 
a scheme on foot right away, for it does seem to me that I shall 
die if I don't hear from nry sons." Solomon: "Dear father 
and mother, I have studied the project over and over, and 
prayed fervently to our Dear Heavenly Father for light on the 
subject, and I believe God has regarded my prayers. It. is an 
awful undertaking, but without the boys our home wears a veil 
of mourning, with them the veil of contentment. We all love 
the boys so much that we can't, yea, it is impossible for us to be 
happy without extending a hearty invitation to the boys to come 
home and share with us the luxuries and pleasures of our mag- 
nificent home. And I have resolved, at all hazards, in the fear 
and love of God, to make the venture. I will make myself an 



88 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

offering- for the erring- boys. I will sacrifice my life to g-ive my 
brothers a chance to enjo}^ peace and happiness. God willing-, 
to-morrow morning- I will start out to seek and to save my 
brothers; and I trust by the kind mercies of God and the special 
care that he exercizes over those who trust in him to be able to 
succeed. I shall use constantly the judg-ement and sag-acity 
God has g-iven me and my educated horse, that will stop, hold 
up his head hig-h when he smells Indians, and my trained dog- 
that will g-o several hundred yards ahead, and when he sees or 
smells dang-er will runback and g-ive me warning - ; and my rifle 
is one of the very best, and my horseman's pistols are as g-ood as 
fired, and my long- steel sword is one of the best; and the man 
don't live that can beat me shooting- or cutting-. I submit to 
God's will. Understand me, father and mother, I don't intend 
to lay undue stress upon these things, such as horse, dog-, rifle, 
pistols, sword, judgment and sagacity. These thing-s are the 
gifts of God ; these are the ten talents committed to my care, 
and God will hold me responsible for the use I make of them. If 
I should start off in the wilderness without my weapons and 
means of defense and the savag-es capture me and be in the act 
of slaying- me, and if I were to pray to God to deliver me, He 
would ask, 'Where are those talents that I intrusted to you?' 
Then should I sa} T , 'Lord I thoug-fit I would trust you altogether 
to deliver me from the darts of the enemy; I left my weapons, 
dog-, etc,, at home.' God would sa} T , 'Thou slothful servant, ex- 
pect me to do it all, and you float along* on the breeze of my 
power. You are a Nicolaitane, charg-e me with your sins and 
your failures. Woe unto you Nicolaitanes ! Brazen serpents, 
look me square in the face and say, 'You are my maker, and 
make me do all that I do.' Ye blasphemers, } t ou commit sins 
and drunkenness, adultry, fornication, lying-, murder, idolatry, 
and all wickedness that can be thought of, and then say that I 
did it; ye miserable hypocrites!' But on the other hand, if I 
act like a wise stewart and use the means, the talents that He 
has intrusted to me, take my educated dog- that God has g-iven 
more brains than he has to ordinary dog-s, and my trained horse 
that God has helped me train that he mig-ht take me through 
this fearful undertaking-, and my g*un, pistols and sword, and 
then do all that I can and trust God with my whole heart, I 
shall come out all rig-ht. I may be even killed in the conflict, 
but God is able to bring- me back to life ag-ain. And I shall bring 
my brothers home. I have faith to believe that if I am over- 
powered by savages and they have the destroying axe raised 
over me, that I may then call upon God and he will save me. 
God would say, 'Well done, thou faithful servant, thou hast 
done all that thou couldst, and I will do the balance.' The 
adag-e of the great heathen philosopher is " The Gods help 
those who help themselves," but the true and living God helps 
those who trust Him, and do the very best they can with the 



57 FFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 89 

talents that he has given them, whether they have one, two or 
live. He requires of us not according- to what we have not, but 
according- to what we have. We are to work as if we had it all 
to do, and yet remember that we are all of God. "Paul may 
plant and Appollos may water, but it is God that g-iveth the in- 
crease." Old Bro. T. with tears streaming- down his 
cheeks, raised his hands and exclaimed: "You are rig-ht, my son, 
my only son. Seeing- you have a clear understanding- of God and 
His dealing's with men, and the use of means and talents in- 
trusted to us, I am not afraid to trust you anywhere." Sister 
T. (in tears): "Thank the Lord! My son Solomon will bring- 
back my lost boys." 

Next morning- Solomon bade farewell to his dear father and 
mother and started with his trained horse, faithful dogs and 
everything- that could add to the success of the trip. And as 
he rode off he said; "Farewell, dear father and mother; and if 
I never meet you in this earthly mansion ag-ain, by the help of 
God,* I'll meet } t ou in mansions of g"lory, where saints and ang-els 
dwell, and where families are never broken up. God be with 
you! Pray for me." Brother and Sister Throddle stood and 
gazed at their noble consecrated son as far as the} 7 could see 
him. Then the} T dropped upon their knees and eug-ag-ed in fer- 
vent prayer to God, to be with their son Solomon, to guide, di- 
rect, support and protect him; and to grant him success in his 
wonderful undertaking-. And after remaining- there a long- time 
in earnest prayer, they arose, went into the mansion and spent 
the day in reading- the Bible, fasting- and praying-. Solomon 
went on and on, and after a long-, tiresome journey throug-h the 
wilderness, found his brothers and g-ave them a full detail of 
their success at home, described their wealth minutely and all the 
pleasures and enjoyments of home. A few of his brothers read- 
ily consented to g-o, but the greater part laug-hed at him and 
said, "You can't hoodwink us with that fine veil you have at- 
tempted to throw over our eyes; we want you to understand that 
we are men of knowledg-e and experience, we have long- since 
cut our eye teeth; we know sugar from salt; we have not 
been roving- these many years in the wilderness and learned 
nothing-; we can tell sweet from bitter, and truth from false- 
hood. You have told tour butter and honey story to deceive us, 
to g-et us to g-o home with you, but the naked truth is this, were 
we silly enough to believe your deceptive yarns and g-o home, 
father and mother would, of course, be glad to see us, but 
father would say, 'Boys, you have found us in a miserable fix. 
We have but little to eat. Last winter the river over- 
flowed and drowned nearly all of our stock, washed down nearly 
all the fencing- around the farm and washed several larg-e 
g-ulleys in the fields, but we are all here now and we can g-o to 
work, split rails and fence the farm, and circular ditch the 
whole farm, and then we can plant a big- crop, and when the 



90 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

merchants see that we are going- to do something- they will ad- 
vance us money to buy a few mules and sell us some groceries 
and forage on a credit to enable us to make a crop, and by liv- 
ing very hard and being very economical, in about three years 
we will come out of debt, and I will then pay your wages. I 
will give you your board, washing and mending and $125 a 
year; and at the close of the three years, when I pay you your 
wages, I will sell each forty acres for $200; then you will have 
about $100 to buy you a horse, farming implements, forage, 
clothes, etc. You will then have to live hard for three years, 
then you can begin to live.' Now, Solmon, honor bright, look 
straight in my eyes. Haven't I told the unadulterated truth?" 
S.: " Not a word of truth in all you have said; you were be- 
guiled and led off from your happy home by that miserable, ly- 
ing tramp, and under his leadership you have become so cor- 
rupted that you can't see the truth. Did you ever know me to tell 
a He?" Bros.: "No." S.: "Did you ever hear any one say 
they doubted a statement that I made?" Bros.: "No. v S.: 
"Did you ever hear any of my trying to deceive any one, under 
any circumstances, at anytime?" Bros.: "No." S.: "Were 
you ever impaired in body, mind, morals or purse by following 
my advice?" Bros.: "No." S. : "Did I ever offer advice 
which you thought at the time would be ruinous, but after- 
wards you would find that it was for the best?" Bros.: "Yes; 
many times." "Have you not been saved from infamy and dis- 
grace by accepting my advice?" Bros.: "Yes, indeed." S. : 
"Would you not have been much happier and far better off 
every way if you had listened to me and your dear old father 
and mother, and not have followed that lying old tramp into 
this waste howling wilderness?" Bros.: "Yes." S. : "Did 
your father and mother ever mistreat you in any way?" Bros. : 
"No." S. : "Did you ever ask of them a reasonable favor that 
they did not grant?" Bros.: "No." S, "Did they not at all 
times divide liberally everything they had with you?" Bros.: 
"Yes." S. : "Did they ever butcher a pig, mutton or beef 
without sending a liberal portion to your bachelors' hall?" 
Bros.: "No." S. : "Did they ever know you to be without 
meal, flour, rice coffee, or potatoes and not supply your wants?" 
Bros.: "Never, no never." S.: "Did you ever know father 
to act little and selfish with anybody?" Bro. : "No; his praise 
was in everybody's mouth. And all the poor class of women 
said they did not see how they could live if it were not for poor 
old mother. She was so very kind 'to them. She would do 
anything for them that lay in her power." S. : "My dear 
brothers, you have made an honest confession, such as is ac- 
cepted by me and would be acceptable to your parents and to 
your Heavenly Father, as far as it goes. But, alas! What 
fallen men! What vile hypocrites! How depraved you 
are! How far estranged from the paths of the Throd- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 91 

die family! You have been ruined by the fall; by 
the contaminating- influence of that miserable old tramp, 
assisted by his father, the devil. Now, I will try you 
by your own mouths. Your own words shall witness 
against you. You impeached me with lying- and hypocrasy. 
Let us test this; we will call up the witnesses, Take the 
stand, boys. Judg-e, swear these men. " (Being- sworn.) "Tell 
the court how long- you have known this S. Throddle." Bros.: 
"Ever since we have known anybody. We nursed at the same 
breast and were reared in the same family." S.: "Then will 
you tell the court the same that you told me a few minutes ag-o 
regarding" my veracity?" Bros.: "We never knew Solomon to 
tell a lie, but on the contrary, he was always correct in his 
statements and perfect!}' honest in all his dealings. " S. : 4 'State 
to the court what you said about my lying- and trying- to de- 
ceive you to g-et you back home/ 1 Bros.: "We did not mean 
that; we will take it all back." S.: "You then plead g-uilty to 
this charge?" 

S.: "Will you state to the court what you know about the 
character of old man Throddle, our father?" Bro. : "Yes, sir, 
he was one of the purest men that ever lived or died; he was 
good and kind to every one; generous in all of his dealings with 
everybody — did everybody all the good he could." S. : "Will 
you state to the court the opinions you expressed an hour ago 
concerning the stinginess and meanness of our father?" Bros. : 
"We will not do it, for we did not mean it. It was not the 
truth; we only said those hateful things about our dear old 
father to stand you off." S. : "Then you take it all back and 
plead guilty?" Bros.: "Certainly; and we are heartily 
ashamed of our wickedness in slurring our dear father in any 
such style, for we know that he is one of the best men on earth." 
S.: "Then as you plead guilty and are ashamed of your wick- 
edness, I will ask the court to pardon you and I will pay the 
cost of suit. My dear brothers, I am rejoiced to see the scales 
falling from your eyes, and light beaming in upon your be- 
nighted minds, so that you are beginning to see the truth and 
turn your eyes in the right direction. I hope your minds are 
better prepared to receive the truth than before court. I wish 
now to reassure you, my dear brothers, that I love you dearly — 
also that our precious fainer and mother are deeply concerned 
about you. We spent tens of thousands of dollars in an effort 
to have you invited back home. We cared not for the money, 
for we have plenty (at least two billions dollars), but it grieves 
us to think of the lives of the hundreds of noble men that were 
sacrificed in an effort to get you home again; many of them, 
your personal friends, said they loved you all, and that they 
would go into the wilderness and hunt for you at the risk of 
their lives; for they were satisfied } t ou would come home with 
them if they found you. These dear friends all died for you in 



92 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

the wilderness save one or two. I loved you all so much I de- 
cided that we must have a hearing- from you. You occupied my 
thoug-hts by day and dreams by nig-ht. Father inquired of me 
if there was no plan that we could devise to correspond with the 
boys. I replied: 'I have a plan. We find that our money and 
friends are failures. Greater sacrifice must be made. I have 
planned to offer myself as a sacrifice for my brothers. The plan 
is to g-o alone and search for them.' F. : 'My son, nvy only 
son, g-ive you up, too! But oh, my heart aches, my head throbs, 
my nerves shake and nry blood almost stops circulating- when I 
ride over our many larg-e plantations, and the thousands of 
negro servants we have making- so many thousands of bushels 
of wheat, oats, rye, barley corn and thousands of bales of cot- 
ton, and then as I ride over the hundred thousand acres of rich 
farming- lands, in the woods, extra of our farms, and then pass 
over into the rang-e, look at my 50,000 head of cattle, our 10,000 
head of sheep and 5000 head of g-oats, and 3000 head of hog's, 
and 2000 horses and mules I think and I think, and continue 
thinking-; property enoug-h to make 100 families independent; 
it's all mine, and only one child to inherit it all. Solomon, I 
love you ardently and can't g-et my consent to say g-o. The fate 
of the parties that we have sent on that errand proves it to be 
fearfully hazardous; but I love the other boys so much, and I 
am so extremely anxious that they should come home and enjoy 
with us our immense riches that I can't say not g-o. I leave the 
matter with you and our God.' Mother was sitting- there sob- 
bing-, the warm tears flowing- from her loving- heart. She 
raised her head, wiped away her tears and said, 'Go, Solomon; 
g-o, my dear son; g-o, and the God of all grace g-o with you, and 
you will lead back my lost sons; for I never have known you to 
undertake anything- but what you made a success of it. And 
when you g-et back with my darling- boys, we will not stop with 
killing- the fatted calf; but we will kill ten, and ten beeves, ten 
hogs, ten muttons, ten kids, 100 turkeys and 1000 chickens, and 
invite everybody. Whosoever will, let him come and partake of 
the rich feast; only they must all comply with the rules of our 
house or they shall not taste of our grand feast. It shall be our 
feast smd/ree to all that will come; we will not ask for, nor ac- 
cept any help from anyone; that would be disgraceful, for we 
have the power and the wisdom and ample means of our own to 
make the great feast ourselves, and it is disgraceful to ask oth- 
ers help us to do that which we have the power, wisdom and 
ample means of doing- ourselves. The rules of our mansion 
shall be that everyone shall greet my prodigal sons with a 
hearty welcome to citizenship — and they shall bow with due def- 
erence to Solomon and ascribe all the glory and honor of the 
restitution of my prodig-al sons. And everybody shall be cor- 
dially invited, without respect of person, all welcome, without 
money and without price; but all must comply with the rules of 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT 93 

the house.' Dear, precious brothers, I come through great trib- 
ulations to find you, dear boys; nothing- but love for you, and 
parental affection, and the grace of God, could have brought me 
to you. I have been stung- by many poisonous insects, bitten by 
poisonous serpents, assailed by ferocious monsters of the forest, 
swam many lakes, rivers and overflowed creeks, and worst of all 
was the trouble with the wild Indians. I evaded them as much 
as I could. I would g-o around them when practicable, but 
when they would surround me I would use my rifle at 'long- taw' 
with great effect. Every time I pulled the trig-g-er one would 
bite the dust. When I would g-et in twenty-five or thirty yards 
I would use my pistols, and every time one of them fired an In- 
dian fell, and when they g-ot in reach of my long- sword their 
brains flew, and I soon had an open lane to pass throug-h; then 
I left as fast as I could; for I did dislike to kill the poor, silly 
creatures, and never did only purely in self-defence. Their 
weapons were stones, stone pointed arrows, and spears with 
stone points, bows and arrows and wooden clubs. I have been 
wounded and bruised so that there was not a sound place on me 
as long- as your hand. I have had to hunt some secret spot and 
lie there three and sometimes four or five days before I could 
travel; and while in these secluded places, racked with pain and 
scorched with fever, how I would wish that my dear brothers 
would walk up to me and doctor me, until I could g-et able to 
travel, and then all of us g-o home tog-ether; but my work was 
not done; a still greater sacrifice was before me. About three 
weeks ago, about two hundred miles from here, several hundred 
Indians surrounded me (I think that I killed more than one hun- 
dred). They were so numerous that when I would kill one 
there would be three live ones ready to take the place of the 
dead one. They closed on me, and after I killed about twenty 
more, with this steel blade, they beat me down from my horse 
with clubs and rocks, and continued this as I went to the ground 
a lifeless corpse; but this red girl that stands by my side cov- 
ered my lifeless body with hers, and she being- a daug-hter of a 
popular chief, the Indians desisted and listened to her ang-elic 
words, as she declared I was a messeng-er sent by the great 
Spirit for the g-ood of the red people. Her noble father came 
and drove the Indians away, Early in the morning- of the third 
day, before it was g-ood light, consciousness returned. I began 
to breathe, opened my eyes, and my head was lying- on this 
angel's lap, and she was bathing my head and face with some 
ointment the medicine man had prepared, mixed with her sweet 
tears. I inquired of her how long she had been with me. She 
replied: ''Three da}-s and nights I have watched over your 
lifeless body and have done all that I could to bring your spirit 
back into your body again; and my father, the good chief, sent 
the great medicine man to help me doctor you. I have prayed 
all the while, to the God you serve, to send your spirit back in 



94 . SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

you, and he heard and answered my prayers. Blessed be his 
holy name." Then the great medicine man came and gave me 
some medicine and nourishment. Then being strengthened, I 
arose, picked up my saddle-pockets, took out a beautiful new 
purse that my mother gave me, and which was ornamented with 
costly jewels, and I rilled it with gold coin and precious jewels 
and presented it to her and prayed for God's richest blessings 
ever to be her fortune. Then after embracing her in my arms 
and pressing her to my bosom, and pressing a holy kiss upon 
her sweet lips, bid her goto her people. But she replied: 'Your 
people shall be my people, and where you go, I will go, and 
where you stay I will stay, and your God shall be my God, and 
where you die I will die, and where your spirit goes mine shall 
go, so that we two shall never be separated, but dwell together 
forever; and when you suffer, I will suffer, and when you re- 
joice, I will rejoice, and vice versa, if you feel as I do upon the 
subject.' I replied: 'Dearest child, my head and heart are just 
as full of gratitude to you as it is possible for them to be. I 
love you with my whole heart, but my darling, it is impossible 
for you to go with me now.' She responded: 'Why my dear- 
est, please explain; I think that we can make the arrangement 
without much trouble. I am hard to turn back when I set my 
head to do anything. I ?.m a graduate in destroying difficul- 
ties. I hurl them out of my path and pass on as if there was 
nothing in the way. Point out your mountain of difficulty and 
I will tear it down to a mole hill in two minutes and a half by 
your fine gold watch.' S. : 'My dear girl, I will not hold you 
in suspense an} 7 longer. Man} 7 years ago an educated, shrewd, 
hypocritical tramp came into Georgia, where I lived with my 
parents and twelve brothers, and by his sweet, deceitful voice he 
beguiled my twelve brothers and brought them off somewhere in 
this country, and my mission is to find them and endeavor to in- 
duce them to go back home. I am traveling all the time, run- 
ning, dodging and hiding from the red men, when it is practi- 
cable, but when they surround me I am compelled to fight them. 
I dislike very much to kill anybody; would not for millions of 
dollars, only in self-defence, and I mean by self-defence, when 
there is no possible way to avoid it and save myself. And some- 
times, when the red men crowd me, I plunge horse and all over 
bluffs fifteen or twenty feet down to the bottom of the river, 
swim down the river two or three miles before finding a place to 
climb out, and at night build a fire, drive the snakes from the 
circle that I claimed for my own use, and dry my clothes, gun, 
pistols, sword, saddle and blankets — lie down, go to sleep, 
awake, find a large rattle snake lying on one side of me, an- 
other on the other side and one at my feet, and another at my 
head — see the situation, draw up my legs about two feet, rise 
erect and spring about ten feet; come down upon a large one, 
which fastens his fangs in my flesh. Then I have to doctor the 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 95 

balance of the night — then set out to search for my brothers 
and to meet other dangers and hair-breadth escapes. You see 
now, dear Panthera, that it is out of the question for you to ac- 
company me, at present, but when I find my brothers I will 
come by after you, and you shall go with us home, and when we 
get to our father's mansion in Georgia we will have one of the 
biggest weddings and biggest feasts ever known on this conti- 
nent. Go, dear child, and remain with your father until I 
come. Pray for me every day, and look for me every week. 

Panthera: "Dear Solomon, I see the groundwork of your 
objections to my going- with you; you prize me so highly, and 
look upon me as a sweet, tender girl, that can't stand hardships 
and exposure. Dear Solomon, allow me to correct your vague 
thoughts upon this subject. I can ride a horse as fast, and as 
far, and stop, or turn him as quick, and plunge him over bluffs 
twenty feet above the water, go to the bottom of the river, come 
up, and swim him until I find a place for him to climb out; and 
I can whip out the snakes, lie down with my wet dress on, and it 
will be dry the next morning, and I will be bright as polished 
silver; and I can shoot a gun, or pistol, or use a sword as well as 
any one, except you. My will-power never fails to carry me 
through with anything I undertake. . I told you I would take 
your huge mountain down to the size of a molehill. Don't you 
think the mountain has turned to a molehill?" S.: "Yes, 
ma'am." P.: "I will now tear down that mole hill, and bury it 
in this broad prairie. I have seen your brothers several times." 
S.: "Where?" P.: "About two hundred miles Northwest of 
here." S.: "What were they doing?" P.: "Fishing, hunt- 
ing, fighting and frolicing." S.: "Were they stationed, or 
roving about?" P.: 'Stationed with a noble tribe of red peo- 
ple, they have entered into a league to live and die with that 
tribe." S.: "Can you tell me the most practicable route to get 
to my brothers?" P.: "Yes, sir; but before we proceed any 
farther I crave to lay a proposition before } T ou, and, as I feel 
that your interest is my interest, and your happiness is my hap- 
piness, I will preface the proposition with a few plain state- 
ments. I am favorably known by all the red faces in this wil- 
derness. I have traveled all over it. I know every creek, river, 
lake and swamp in it and all the crossing places in it. I have 
been in every hamlet and town in it, hence you see that I am 
well calculated to direct } t ou, and aid you in the wilderness; and 
the proposition is, that }-ou allow me to lead, and give direction 
to the expedition until we get out of the wilderness, and then 
you may wear the breeches as long as they last." S.: Dear 
Panthera, from my love and devotion to you and yours to me, 
and my confidence in your judgement, I will accept the proposi- 
tion, with the understanding that if we differ seriously in regard 
to the management of the expedition, that I must have my way/' 
P.: "I accept your right to reserve, for I know that you are a 



96 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

man of sense, and that you will not object seriously to my 
plans. My plan is for us now to go on down to father's wig- 
wam and tarry four or five days, until you recover and regain 
your strength; then we will borrow papa's flag-, which will be 
recognized as the emblem of peace hj all the tribes to South 
America, and this same flag of peace will carry us two hundred 
miles in safety towards Georgia, where I have a great uncle, who 
is a grand old chief, and stands in with all the tribes from his 
place to Georgia; and when we get there we will get his flag, 
which will carry us the remainder of the waj- in complete 
safety." S. : "Panthera, your words revive me. I do know 
that you are one of the noblest of God's creation. I am per- 
fectly charmed, I shall love you as long as my soul and body 
hang together. It inspires me with new hopes, and gives fresh 
courage to push forward; it has inspired me with stronger faith 
in God's directing hand, though it leads through the instrumen- 
tality of a 16-year-old Indian girl. It is sweeter than the hone;\ 
and the honeycomb. I have fought a great battle, and gained 
the victory; though I was killed, I am now alive. Though 1 
was dead, I live again, with brighter prospects than before. O, 
it is good, it is glorious! It is like the precious ointment upon 
the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaran's, that 
went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Her- 
mon, and as the dew that descends upon the mountains of Zion, 
for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forever- 
more." 

Now, my dear brothers, I have endeavored to portray to your 
minds and hearts the interest felt for you by 3-our loving par- 
ents. They have made every effort in their power, and, finding 
that money and friends would not get you back, they, as the last 
resort, resolved to make the greatest sacrifice in their power to 
get you back. They gave up their only son (at home), to come 
into this wilderness, to suffer, bleed and die to restore you. And 
I suffered and died to get my brothers back home. I la}^ lifeless 
three days and nights, and this sweet, angelic red girl, bore my 
bruised and mangled head and face on her lap, and did all she 
could to restore me to life, and then brought me here to my dear 
brothers; and she is familiar with all this country, and all the 
crossings on the water courses, and friendly with all the tribes. 
So by the assistance of her father's and uncle's flag she will 
pilot us home in perfect safety. Hence you see we have an open 
door, a bright morning star to lead us back to our dear old father 
and mother, and our lovely home, where we will find every thing 
that heart can call for, nothing in the way to mar our peace or 
happiness. Now, my dear brothers, I want you to understand 
me and our Father. Our loving Father never sent me in this 
wilderness to hunt you up to surround you, and drive you home 
and pen you, and fleece you, and turn you out to rove until we 
get ready to shear you again. Neither had I any such purpose 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT, 97 

in inv heart, for my Father and I are one. We see, think, act, 

and decide upon all subjects alike. Had it been our purpose- to 
force you here, I should have come with an army of soldiers, and 
wagons, and handcuffs, and chains, and should have arrested 
and chained you down in the wagons and hauled you back as I 
would so many outlaws, and then chained you to slakes until 
we could have a penitentiary built to hold you there. This 
compulsory treatment would make you miserable, and us more 
wretched than it would to know that you were running- at large 
as vou pleased among the natives of the forest. Nay, my dear 
brothers, far be it from us to be guilty of such ignorance, folly 
and barbarism. You remember the noble sentiments of our 
dear Father, expressed to you the morning you left home. He 
was opposed to your leaving" him, but said you were of age, and 
that it would be wrong to force }-ou to stay — that you must be 
free moral agents, to choose and act for yourselves, and now we 
want you to go back home in the same way, i. e., bj your own 
will and judg-ement. Then you will be happy, and your placid 
countenances will make us happy, and, all being happy to- 
gether, will make home a lovely place, and the united breath- 
ings of our hearts will be home, sweet home; there is no place 
like home! And I have come to urge you to go home with me, 
by the love of your weeping father and mother, and by the great 
sacrifice I have made for you, and }^our own happiness. Come 
out of this wilderness, and go home. For why will you starve 
and die in a foreign land, while your father has plenty and to 
spare? Will }~ou go, mv precious brothers, and show your ap- 
preciation of the sacrifice I have made? Go for the love of your 
parents? Brothers, hear me this one time: If I go home without 
you, and report that I found you after wandering through seas 
of tribulation, but could not prevail on }^ou to come, your con- 
duct will wring their hearts and bring their gray hairs down to 
their graves in sorrow. Now, brothers, all that will go with me 
give me your hands." Then Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Moses, 
Aaron, David and Jonathan gave him their hands, but Joshua, 
Caleb, John, James and William stood aloof. S.: "Thank 
God, seven of my dear brothers have made up their minds to re- 
turn home, but here are five more of my dear brothers refusing 
to go. Please explain what are your objections? Joshua, Ca- 
leb and John: "Brother Solomon, we will tell }-ou the truth. 
We love } 7 ou, and appreciate all that you have done and suffered 
for us, and we have the gTeatest love and reverence for our dear 
old parents, and we would love to see that dear old home and 
enjoy its grand pleasures, and live a civilized life, but alas! The 
opportunity has passed. We have married Indian girls, and 
we love our wives and children, and could not entertain the 
thought for one minute, of leaving our wives and children in 
this wilderness and going home." S.: "Take your wives and 
childrenwith you; they will be welcome." Joshua, Caleb and 



98 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

John: "We know father and mother well enough to know that 
if we went marching up home with our red wives and babes 
that they would meet us at the great gate, and order us back to 
the wilderness and declare that we had thrown ourselves away, 
and that we had brought a reproach upon the T huddle family 
that never could be rubbed out." S. : "Stop, my dear brothers! 
Stop! Don't be casting unfounded reflections upon our parents 
in the presence of these strangers. You don't know our parents 
like I do. While you have been sowing your wild oats in the 
wilderness, I was at home communing with them. I know the 
very secret emotions of their hearts; and I do know that they 
are not of that proud, haughty, scornful and aristocratic turn 
of mind you would ascribe to them. They have sound 
minds and pure hearts, and they respect people according to the 
purity of their hearts and sincerity of their motives, and the 
corroborating fruits of their lives; not according to their nation- 
ality or the positions they occupy in human society. They love 
everybody; and I know they will love those who love their sons. 
Look there, brothers; do you see Panthera, this 16-year-old girl 
that stands by my side? She is to be my wife; and as sure as I 
go home, she will be there by my side. Bro. John Smith, our 
dear pastor, will marry us and pronounce us husband and 
wife. Then father and mother will go wild with congratula- 
tions. My dear brothers, I know what I am talking about. Go 
with me. I guarantee a hearty welcome to every one that goes 
with me. I view now, by an eye of confirmed faith, the warm 
reception with which we will all be met at our dear home. 
When we get within a few hundred yards of home — about oppo- 
site the old wolf pit — I will fire off my rifle, by which our 
parents will know that I am coming. Then in a few minutes 
I will see mamma coming at the top of her speed with bonnet 
in hand, and papa about fifteen steps behind her; he is doing 
his best, but he can't keep up. The report of my rifle has re- 
vived her drowning hopes and given elasticity to her aged 
limbs. 

We all dismount. Then mother, that dear, loving mother, will 
throw her affectionate arms around me, her face bedewed with 
sweet tears of joy, and exclaim, 'Solomon, oh, Solomon, my son! 
my own precious son! was lost, but now you are found; was dead, 
but now you are alive; and bless God, you are at home again!' 
She looks around, and I say, 'Mamma, that is Panthera, my 
intended wife?' She may look somewhat dazed, but will extend 
her hand and say, 'How do you do, Panthera?' I'll continue, 
'Mamma, that precious angel girl saved, no, brought me to 
life after I had been dead three whole days and nights. She 
saw a great army of Indians surround me; although I had killed 
more than one hundred of them, they overpowered me and beat 
me down from my horse with clubs and rocks, and as I fell to 
the ground bleeding, mangled, a breathless corpse, she covered 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 99 

my body with her's. Then her father, who was a noble chief, 
seeing- the concern of his favorite daughter for me, ordered the 
Indians away and sent the great medicine man to help dress my 
wounds, and the remedies used were all mixed with her 
sweet tears, and while her lovely fingers were closing 
the deep, ugly gashes in my flesh her earnest 
prayers were ascending to the God I serve to bring 
me to life again; and when God returned my spirit through 
the instrumentality of that precious red angel of com- 
passion and love, I went to my saddle pocket and took out that 
large new purse you made for me, filled it with 20-dollar gold 
pieces and some diamonds; then I also took that little red cedar 
box that father took so much pains in making and decorating 
with diamonds and presented to me as a keepsake, and I filled it 
with diamond rings, ear bobs, breast pins, and a fine gold dia- 
mond watch and chain, and then presented the purse and box 
to her as a token of my kind regard for her, and bid her go to 
her people. She then looked me square in the face and pointed 
at my eye and exclaimed, with emphasis, 'Your people shall be 
my people, your country shall be my country, and your God shall 
be my God, where you live I will live, and where you die I will 
die, where you are buried I will be buried, and where your 
spirit goes mine shall go; so we two shall never be separated.' 
Mamma, with great big tears of delight flowing from her ten- 
der heart and eyes, will shout, 'Enough, enough! Glory to 
God!' and make for Panthera. I will say, 'Hold on, mamma, 
I haven't told you all. I want to tell you how easily and 
quickly and safely she led me to my brothers and then led us 
home so lovingly." Mamma: 'Yes, yes; dear Solomon, but 
enough for the present; it will take you a year to tell it all; I 
must welcome this fair angel girl.' She gathers Panthera in 
her arms and draws her to her breast, and brings their throbbing 
hearts in contact, so that the fluttering of each heart should be 
felt by the other, and exclaims, 'Panthera, thou art to be the 
wife of my first born; you are welcome to be my daughter.' 
Joshua interrupts, 'My mamma.' The old lady gathers 
him and exclaims: 'Joshua! It is my long lost Joshua! 
Glory, glory! Bless the Lord! He has restored to us our 
children.' Brother Throddle says, 'Yes, my dear wife, I 
told you the Lord would hear our prayers.' Sister T.: 'Why, 
old man, have you waked up?' Bro. T.: 'Yes, my precious 
wife; in Heaven upon earth I am as happy as you are, but 
don't talk as much.' Joshua: 'Papa and mamma, this is my 
wife, Zelphena, and our two sons, John and Joseph." Sister 
Throddle extends her hand rather pleasantly with a 'how do 
you do?' and turns to J. and inquires if that is another red angel 
from the wilderness. J. : 'Her friendship to me before marriage 
was like Jonathan's to David, and since marriage a devoted true 
wife, she has done everything in her power to make me happy.' 



100 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

Sister T. : 'Enough for this time;' gathers Zelphena, em- 
braces and kisses her and the. little boys, and makes them wel- 
come to all the honors and emoluments of the Throddle family. 
Bro. T. : 'Amen!' Caleb: 'Dear old mamma!' Sister T. : 
'Caleb! Caleb! Bless God! Oh, my soul! Here is Caleb, my 
dear son!' She embraces and kisses and moistens his neek with 
her tears of joy. Caleb: 'Mamma, this is my wife, Urena, 
and our two girls, Julia and Lucretia.' The old lady. : 'Caleb 
is she a good, virtuous woman?' C. : 'She is one of the purest 
women I ever knew; she loves all good people, and all good 
people love her; and she is a devoted wife; she has never done 
anything to offend me, but everything in her power to make me 
comfortable and happy.' The old lady embraces them in her 
arms, kisses them and makes them welcome. John: 'Mamma!' 
She gathers him, hugs and kisses him and praises the Lord for 
His goodness. John: 'Mamma, there is my wife, Pandona, 
and our little boy, Phillip.' She proclaims them welcome. 
And such will be the proceedure all the way through. I guar- 
antee that it will all turn out just as I say. How many more of 
my dear brethren will go with us to be at the great reunion at 
home, that grand old home? Seven have said they would go; 
how many more?" Joshua, Caleb and John gave their hands. 
"Bless the Lord! O, my soul! Now, ten of my precious 
brothers have agreed to go with me and enjoy the grand re- 
union at home. All but — oh, how I hate that but! Can I, can 
I say it? Can I say to our parents, 'I have brought all the boys 
home but — ? For our dear old weeping and praying parents' 
sake let us change it, leave out the but, and have me say to the 
dear old folks who love us so much that I have brought all the 
boys to enjoy the grand reunion and great feast. Brother James 
and Brother William will you not go with us?" Bros.: "No, 
not now; we have some arrangements on foot for sport and 
profit in this wilderness, we must carr}^ out. We will call for 
you when we have a convenient season." S. : "My beloved 
brothers, our father has done everything that he could to re- 
store you to heirship and happiness according to his notions of 
right and wrong, and your free moral agency, and I have done 
all I can without tresspassing upon your freedom. I have left 
my father's home of peace and plenty, filled with all the lux- 
uries of life, and surrounded .by all the beauties my eyes could 
behold, and have come on this long and wearisome trip to seek 
and to save my brothers, which were lost, and I have suffered 
with hunger, thirst, wet and dry, sickness, pain and death. 
And now I stand before you with the offer of free pardon 
and restoration to home, sweet home, happy home, if }^ou will 
have faith in me. I can do no more." James could hold out 
no longer. He broke down and cried out in tears, "I believe 
all that thou hast said, and I will trust to you to reconcile me 
and my family to our father and mother. We will go with you. 



SUFFERINGS OF TtiE ELECT, 101 

Glory to God! I am so happy! I can now feel the arms of my 
loving- father and mother embracing me and my dear wife, and 
see them taking our Indian babes upon their knees and calling 
for the mercies of God to rest upon their dear grandchildren." 
Solomon: "Glory! I am so happy! All of my dear brothers 
are saved! ex — O, my God! How can I? Brother William, 
please do not let us be compelled to use that objectionable word, 
except! We do not want any exceptions among- our brethren; I 
came as much after one as another; I love you all alike; our 
parents love us all alike; the invitation of our father was to one 
and all alike; you are just as much invited as any of the rest. 
If you will come and go with us we will be a complete, happy 
family. Will } t ou not repent, believe and go with us, like 
James?" William: "No; I am not weak minded and credu- 
lous like James and some more of you. I am a man of sense 
and firmness. Go on back home and go to work in the corn 
and cotton fields with the Negroes, and take your wives in the 
fields to help you make corn and cotton, and mamma will ar- 
range for your meals in the kitchen on the same table with the 
Negroes, where you and your red wives can enjoy your rich 
meals of corn bread and fat hog meat and collards, and she will 
feed your red cubs in a trough in the back yard with the pigs 
and pups." S, : "My poor brother, you are gone, given over to the 
delusion of a savage life. Farewell! farewell! My lost and 
ruined brother!" Then the party went on rejoicing over the 
bright prospects ahead of them, and in a few months, without 
any- serious mishaps, the whole party arrived in perfect safety 
at home and met with the greetings and reception as before de- 
scribed by Solomon. The party then entered the elegant man- 
sion, and all bowed to return thanks to the invisible precious 
God for His guidance and preservation, and to ask Him to con- 
tinue His kind guardianship over them, after which all the 
families were escorted to their respective apartments in that 
elegant mansion. 

Then the next morning (I need not add that they slept but 
little that night) after pouring out their hearts to God in 
earnest prayer and thanksgiving, the old lady said: "We are 
now ready for that great feast, which was described as Solomon 
started in search of the boys. This feast shall be to honor 
Solomon, and to celebrate his marriage and to show 
our joy over the return of our lost boys. It shall con- 
tinue a whole month." The old man said, "Amen." Then 
he arose and called for special servants, and sent them 
out to invite everybody to this feast — the rich and the poor, all 
alike — for it was free to all, "Without money and without 
price," only all must comply with the rules of the mansion. He 
then started other servants to preparing the fatted calves, pigs, 
turkeys, etc., in accordance with what the old lady had said it 
should be. The rules of the house: 



102 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

(1) Every man and woman of sense must kneel before the 
inner gate, facing Solomon and his intended wife, and exclaim: 
"All honor to Solomon, who suffered and died that his brothers 
might live." 

(2) Then the conductor shall introduce him or her to all of 
the Throddle family. Then the candidate for admission must 
compliment the old gentleman and lady for their successful re- 
union of their family, and then greet the returned boys with a 
hearty welcome to all the rites and privileges of citizenship 
(including their wives and Indian children) in the colony of 
Georgia. 

(3) The conductor shall lead the candidate to the dressing 
store, and he shall lay off his or her clothing and take such a 
garment as shall be presented; then he shall be conducted to the 
great parlor, where conductors shall be standing about the 
door to introduce such as are not acquainted. These rules are 
like the laws of the Medes and Persians — unalterable. Any one 
refusing to comply with any of these rules shall be ejected with- 
out farther ceremony. The guests are then invited to the 
dressing store to get the wedding dress; then on their return 
Brother Smith, the dear old pastor, rises (Solomon and 
Panthera standing in front of him) and proclaims the marriage 
ceremony. Solomon gathers Panthera and draws her to his 
manly bosom and exclaims before that immense assembly, "My 
bride, my pride, the glory of my life; my own dear wife, to love 
as Jesus loves His bride, the church!" Panthera: "My dear 
husband; we are no longer twain, but one flesh; your wants 
shall be mine, your trials mine, your joys mine." She then 
hands Solomon a pair of splendid substantial pantaloons, and 
says, "Here, my true love, take and wear these breeches 
[Laughter] until they wear out, and then I will get for you 
another pair, because I want your spirit, -to lead and rule mine 
as long as we live, for I do believe that you have the spirit of 
our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." Bro. Throddle 
and Sister Throddle made their way to them, threw a right and 
left hand together, and threw their other two together on the 
other side of their son and daughter, and gave them a sound 
hugging and kissing and prayed to God if it were possible and 
in accordance with His holy will, never to let another wave of 
trouble cross their peaceful breasts. Then, as the hundreds of 
guests were pushing forward to congratulate the couple, the 
superintendent came in and saw a man not having on the wed- 
ding garment, and he said to him, "Friend, how earnest thou 
in hither, not having on the wedding garment?" The man was 
speechless. The lord of the great feast says: "Friend, have 
you no defense to offer by way of explanation?" He was dumb. 
The lord of the feast says: "Friend, I am sorry for you. 
Can't you say something to palliate, in some degree, your re- 
bellion?" He was dumb. Then the lord of the feast said: 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 103 

"Take him and bind him hand and foot and cast him into 
outer darkness.'' After he was ejected the congratulations went 
on in a rapid and pleasant manner until dinner was announced. 
Then they postponed felicitating- until after they had partaken 
of the finest dinner ever set before people on earth, both in 
quality and quantity. Then the congratulatory exercises went 
on until time to retire for rest and sleep. The next morning a 
man approached the inner g-ate and asked for admittance. The 
gate minder asked if he understood the rules of the house and 
feast, when he answered, "No; what about the rules? I am a 
gentleman of good character and have a good education and 
understand the etiquette of the day. Have you anything 
tighter than that?" Answer: "Rules have been made by 
tne manhead of this mansion (Throddle and wife and 
Solomon combined) to suit the occasion." Man: "Let 
us hear the rules." Ans.: "That you kneel to Solomon 
and his Indian wife and render to them honor and 
glory; and that you make the other boys welcome to citi- 
zenship; then lay off your clothes and accept a suit they will 
tender you." Man: "Think the rules good enough, all but the 
last one. My clothes are mine; I worked and made the 
money that bought them, and I will not wear another's 
clothes." Answer: "That excludes you; the rules of this man- 
sion are unalterable; you must comply with the rules of the 
mansion, or you can't enter. It is a great feast, a free gift 
offered to every one without money and without price, and you 
must -positively comply with the rules or be left out." He was 
not admitted, and went away indignant because he was not al- 
lowed to wear his own fine clothes which he had bought for this 
special occasion, after having heard of the feast. He bought 
these clothes without inquiring carefully and learning the rules 
of the mansion. 

We now leave the reader to imagine the continued happiness 
of this noble family. We leave the allegory and come to the 
application. Throddle had his family in a home surrounded 
by everything necessary to make them happy. God created 
our first parents and placed them in a garden surrounded 
by everything calculated to make them happy. 

The old tramp who was exiled from South America for re- 
belling against his government, went- to Throddle's sons and 
lied to them and led them off into the wilderness of Central 
America. 

The old serpent that was banished from Heaven because he 
rebelled against the government of Heaven, went into Eden and 
lied to Eve and led off our first parents into the wilderness of 
sin. 

Throddle sent various parties to search for, and lead back 
home, his wandering family, most of these messengers being 
slain, and finally sent his only dear son (only one at home) 



104 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

to search for, and suffer death in reaching- the boys to lead 
them home. 

God sent angels to communicate with his wandering- children, 
and prophets, priests and. preachers (man} 7 - of whom were slain) 
to show them the wa} T back to God, and also sent his only be- 
g-otten Son, into this world of sin to suffer and die for man that 
man mig-ht be induced to turn back to God. 

Riches. Throddle had great wealth, more than enoug-h for 
all his family. 

God not only has great wealth, but possesses all thing-s 
in Heaven and on earth. 

Lost. Throddle's sons, hy listening- to the tramp, were 
estrang-ed to that quiet, happ} T home life; hence missed all the 
real happiness that is afforded by a Godly home, which is sur- 
rounded by all that is calculated to make one happy, and the 
one that persisted in his savage state entirely missed all the 
great wealth and extreme happiness of the mansion, and re- 
mained to go to destruction among the savages. 

By listening to the serpent, God's family were estranged 
to God and lost their purity, rest, peace and happiness that 
they had with God, and all the riches of grace that none 
understand except the real children of God; and all who persist 
in this wandering state of sin to the end will reap eternal woe. 

Throddle did not compel his family to remain at home, but 
left them to act for themselves, as they were of age. 

God left his family to act upon their own resposibility T ; he did 
not force them to resist the temptations of the devil. 

Throddle was not under any obligation to his boys after they 
left him, but his love, or rather the love of the trinity. Throd- 
dle and wife and Solomon caused the fearful sacrifice in order 
to reach these wandering boys. God was under no obligation 
to man after his wilful departure from God, but the love of the 
trinity, God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, led to the great sacri- 
fice that was made for sinners. 

Throddle did even T thing in his power, according to his no- 
tions of right and wrong-, to prevent his sons from leaving home, 
and also exerted this power to its fullest extent in the effort to 
get them back home. Likewise did our loving- Heavenly 
Father. 

Throddle's invitations were offered to all alike. Solomon 
plead as sincerely with the one that was lost as he did with the 
rest. And Throddle would have been just as proud to have seen 
him as he was to see the others. This is true of God, ' 'Whosoever 
will, let him take of the water of life freely." God wills not the 
death of an}% but would that all would come to repentance and 
live. Throddle and wife and Solomon, who constitute the man- 
head on earth, did not enter into any conclave to make a hypo- 
critical show to their lost children, that they earnestly craved , 
for all of them to return home, and enjoy their great riches, 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELEC7. 105 

while, at the same time, they had arranged so that William 
should not return, because they entertained some secret objec- 
tions to him. Nay, verily, for they had plenty lor all, and 
loved them all alike, lor they were good people, and would not 
have- entertained such an idea for a moment. (rod, Christ, and 
the Holy Spirit, who constitute the God-head in Heaven, never 
entered any conclave to make a hypocritical show that they 
earnestly craved all their lost sons and daughters to return 
home to enjoy the riches of Heaven, while the real truth in the 
matter was that they had arranged so that a part should not re- 
turn, because they entertained some secret objections to 
them. No, indeed! For they have an abundance for all who 
are invited, and they loved them all alike; aix are invited. Our 
great and pure God means just what he says, and would not en- 
tertain hypocricy for a single moment. 

Honor and glory. The boys who returned home were not en- 
titled to the honor and glory of their salvation. They knew 
nothing about, nor had anything to do with the plan of their 
salvation. Neither had they am T right to any of the wealth of 
the mansion. It was the love of the father, the mother and the 
brother that extended salvation to them. And the plan was exe- 
cuted by the loving brother, who was aided by Almighty God. 
Solomon brought to them the knowledge of the riches of the 
mansion, and the love of the trinity, and of the sacrifice made, 
and of the willingness of the trinity to forgive and receive them 
back home, etc. This knowledge gave them faith; then, you 
see, they were saved by grace, through faith, and that not of 
themselves, for Solomon was the author and finisher of their 
faith. Who, then, was entitled to the honor and glory of their 
salvation? Solomon! None of these boys had anything to 
glon T in, except what the father, mother and son had done for 
them. The trinity needed nothing the boys had. The} T asked 
for nothing but the boys themselves. The invitation w T as, come 
just as you are. You can never provide becoming raiment, in 
that wilderness, for your association with us here. Come home, 
where we have royal robes provided for everyone that will come, 
and where we have everything else that will tend to make you 
happy. One great trouble with these erring boys, notwith- 
standing the hearty invitation and the glittering prospects, 
should they return, was they had to subdue their pride; they would 
have to humble themselves and acknowledge their wrong, and 
incur the sneers of their companions, who remained behind. 
What is said of the honor and glory of the salvation of these 
boys, is true of sinners. The plan of salvation was conceived 
and matured in Heaven hy the God-head, without man's knowl- 
edge, consent or approbation. "God so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

The above is so plain I will leave the reader to run out the 



106 SUPFE&INGS OF THE ELECT. 

balance of the analogy for himself. Throddle gave a great 
feast on the return of his wandering- family, and at the marriage 
of his well beloved son, to manifest his joy over the reclamation 
of his family, and over the marriage of this dear son. He made 
these reclaimed bo}<s equal with Solomon. In like manner, God 
will give a giorious feast in Heaven. All people are invited to 
this grand feast. He says: "Look unto me and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth. And the Spirit and the bride say, 
come. And let him that heareth say come. And let him 
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take 
of the water of life freely." The offers are without money 
and without price, only all must comply with the rules 
of the Kingdom, which rules are: (1) Humiliation and 
repentance toward God; (2) that you draw near to God and re- 
sist the devil; (3) that you believe on Jesus, and render to Him 
all the honor and glory of your salvation; (4) That you confess 
Christ before men. These rules are all covered in the one act of 
washing your robes in Christ's blood. Christ's blood makes the 
robe white, which is an emblem of purity, and, having on this 
robe, you will be entitled to enter this everlasting Heavenly 
feast. This feast will not last simply for a month, given in 
commemoration of God's joy over the return of His lost family, 
and over the marriage of his well beloved son. The church is 
Christ's bride, and whenever one complies with the rules of His 
kingdom, he or she is married to Christ, and they become one; 
and if Christ ever asked for a divorce from any member of his 
bride, or if any member of his bride ever asked for a divorce 
from Christ it has never been recorded. 

Reading this extended allegory, an inquiring mind would 
naturally ask: "Mr. Throddle, can you be reconciled or happy 
while William remains in the wilderness?" T.: "I am, for I 
have done all in my power that could be done to get him back, 
on sensibie terms, and he is a sensible man, and should have 
come with the others. It was not by any law, will or wish of 
mine that caused him to stray; if it were, I would go down to my 
grave in sorrow repenting in sackcloth and ashes. He preferr- 
ing that course of conduct which leads to his own destruction is 
alone responsible for it, and shall have to endure 
the fearful consequences of his unbelief and hardness of 
heart. If they had been idiots or children, I should have sent 
an army and wagons to have secured them, and have hauled 
them home, where I could take care of them, but as it is I shall 
turn my back upon William and give him up forever, and turn 
all my paternal love to these my sons, and their wives, who have 
come." Make the application, reader, for yourself. 

Another inquirer: "Bro. Throddle, didn't I hear you tell 
Solomon that you knew that Thomas, Samuel, Jacob and Caleb 
would come when they were invited, that you knew them and 
that they should be willing in the day of your power?" "Yes, 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 107 

I said this, and I meant it, just as God did when He said, 4 My 
people shall be a willing- people in the day of My power.' Now, 
do you think that God meant here that He had a particular day 
set apart to exhibit His power, and that on that day He would 
send a company of sprightly } T oung angels, with savage tem- 
peraments, to His people to slap them over against the stones, 
and kick them into the ditches, and gouge sand into their eyes, 
or strip them and bind them to trees and across logs and raw 
hide them until they became willing? Or will He send a cruel 
spirit down upon His people, and press and force them, like 
packing a bale of cotton, until they actually squall out for mercy, 
and promise to believe if he will only turn up the cruel screw 
that is pressing the ponderous block down upon them, and crush- 
ing their very lives out? If you do, I do not believe any such 
nonsense. God evidently meant by that expression, his people 
should be a willing people, etc., that he knew His people, that 
he had looked over the millions of the human family, prospect- 
ively, before they were created, and had looked closely after the 
g*eneral make-up of Abraham and his stock, and especially the 
one hundred and forty-four thousand belonging to the twelve 
tribes of Israel. He knew them, He knew they would honor Him, 
He knew they would believe on His Son, therefore He predesti- 
nated them to be conformed to the image of His Son, and whom 
He predestinated'He called, and whom He called He justified, and 
whom He justified He glorified. It was not God's predestinating 
them that made them a willing people, but God's knowing them 
caused Him to predestinate them to be conformed to the image 
of His Son. This explains what I meant when I said Thomas, 
Samuel, Jacob and Caleb should be willing to come. I knew 
them, I knew their temperaments; I knew their attachment for 
home, their love for father and mother, I knew their general 
make-up; hence I said I knew they would be willing to come in 
the day of my power, and the day of my power was the day 
when Solomon reached, and invited them. 

Another inquirer: "Bro. Throddle, how do you account for 
the great difference in your boys? Are all of them your sons?" 
T.: "They are." I.: " "Well, are all of them Sister Throddle's 
sons?" T.. "They are." I.: "Then why the difference?" 
T.: "I can, I think, explain this to a sensible man. It is a 
well understood fact that the conduct, the exercise of the mind, 
the desires of the heart and the exercises of the temperament of 
parents during the conception and generating of their progency 
has a great deal to do with the moulding of their minds and 
temperaments. This being true, I'll give you a little of our his- 
tory, which will help to explain this matter. We were married 
in the colony of Pennsylvania, and settled under the shadow of 
the wings of that great man of peace, William Penn, where we 
lived quietly, lovingly and happily upon our little farm, for 
about eighteen months. And up to this time no craze for gain, 



108 SUJ-TERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

or adventure had disturbed our quietude, but at this time, which 
was after the birth of Solomon, we moved to this, then wilder- 
ness country. Solomon has been very kind, affectionate and 
obedient all his life. The next sixteen years we lived rough, 
adventurous lives, hunting- and fighting the wild beasts of this 
wild and almost uninhabited country, during- which time we 
had eig-ht sons born unto us, and these eig-htboys had seed sown 
in their heads and hearts that made them rovers, adventurers, 
hunters and sportsmen. Then about the close of these sixteen 
years a great chang-e took place; the Gospel was preached, sin- 
ners converted, and churches were org-anized. Old sportsmen be- 
came Bible readers. Society was improved, and the minds of 
the people were directed to better thing-s in every direction. 
And under the influence of this kind of society, my four sons, 
Thomas, Samuel, Jacob and Caleb, were g-enerated and born 
into the world. These are the four that I said would come 
when they were invited. 

What is said under the foreg-oing- head, "Why the great dif- 
ference in the boys," helps to contradict the Nicolaitan idea of 
charging- God with all the corruption of man. When men lie, 
steal, rob, drink whisky, g-et drunk and beat their innocent wives 
and helpless children, and drive them out to freeze to death in 
the cold, and do all sorts of wickedness, which is so abomi- 
nable in the sight of God, the Nicolaitans say that God or- 
dained-that they should do just what they do; that God raised 
them up to. do these corrupt thing's. I saw an old white headed 
Nicolaitan hung- in Macon, Ga., in 1894, for killing- a respect- 
able young- widow, because she refused to marry him. He ac- 
knowledged the murder, and stated that he was ready to meet 
God, that he had done just what God raised him up to do. 
When his neck was broken I thoug-ht that was right, and that 
the world would be blessed b} T getting rid of all such. Ye Ni- 
coliatans, tell me not that God ordained that these men should 
yield to these diabolical influences; that the kind husband and 
loving father should be ordained of God to drink whisky, and 
transform himself into a real devil, in the form of a human, etc., 
etc. Such an ordination would be impure; God is pure and can- 
not do an impure thing; therefore, God never made such an or- 
dination. Such an ordination would be unjust. God is just, 
and cannot do an unjust thing; therefore, God never made such 
an ordination. Such an ordination would show that God pre- 
determined the present and everlasting destruction of such 
wicked men, when He declares that He wills not the death of 
any, bnt that all should come to him and live; therefore he made 
no such an ordination. Such an ordination is contrary to the 
principles of universal love — God is love. He 'so loved the 
world,' etc., and he never does anything to thwart his own pur- 
poses; therefore, he never made such an ordination. Such an 
ordination would be without mercy: God is full of mercy, hence 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 109 

cannot make an ordination without an eye to mercy; therefore, 
He never made such an ordination. Such an ordination would 
be unholy; Clod is holy and cannot make an unholy ordination, 
therefore, He never made such an ordination. Such an ordina- 
tion would destroy the accountability of man, and God holds all 
the rational sons and daughters of the Adamic family account- 
able for everything that they do, say or think; therefore, I af- 
firm positively, without fear of successful contradiction, that 
God never made any such ordination, nor anything- akin to it. 

As there has been so much jargon about God loving- Jacob 
and hating- Esau, 111 try to explain it for the satisfaction of 
earnest inquirers. 

As I have said, God is an allwise being-, and never did any- 
thing without an intention, without a purpose, nor without a 
plan — hence before He sent His Son into the world He looked 
prospectively over the people of the world, and seeing- in every 
nation bad and worse, and in all families bad and worse, He re- 
solved to elect men, who should be representative men, through 
whose lineag-e His Son should be born. About the head of this 
lineag'e list we find Seth, then follows Enos, Cainan, Mahala- 
leel, Jared, Enoch, who never died, and Methusalah, who lived 
longer than any one else, Lamech, father of Noah, Noah, who 
was found righteous in his generation, Shem, Noah's son, Ar- 
pharad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Ren, Scrug, Nahar, Tahar, Terah, 
then Terah's son, the faithful Abraham. Abraham was a great 
man with God — likewise God was a great God with Abraham. 
Abreiham was a true man, and God made a covenant with him 
and promised to make him the father of many nations. God 
declared that his name should be Abraham, instead of Abram, 
in consequence of his faithfulness. He is rightfully called the 
father of the faithful. God promised to bless his seed in Isaac, 
his son. God blessed Isaac as a chosen representative man of 
the lineage througm which the Messiah should enter the world. 
Jacob, his son, was the next specially chosen vessel. Isaac 
married Rebecca, and she was barren, and he entreated the Lord 
for her, and she conceived twins. ''And the children struggled 
together within her, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? 
And she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto 
her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people 
shall be separated from thy 7 bowels." God meant by this that 
the two children should be the head and representative men of 
two nations, Esau to represent the nation that would be stran- 
gers and foreigners to the commonwealth of Israel, without God 
and without hope in the world — while Jacob was to represent 
the nation through which Christ should be born. Esau was a 
red, hairy man, and Jacob a plain man. Esau was born first, 
then Jacob came and took him by the heel, perhaps representing 
that he would bruise Esau's heel; that he himself should have 
the primogeniture. God further said to Rebekah: "And the 



110 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the 
elder shall serve the younger." Gen. 25:23. It is very evident 
that God meant that the posterity of the elder (Esau) should 
serve the posterity of the young-er (Jacob). "And the one peo- 
ple shall be stronger than the other people." This could not 
have meant that Ksau, as an individual, should serve Jacob, as 
an individual, because Ksau never did serve Jacob; Jacob fled 
from Ksau to save his life, and in after years greatly feared to 
meet Ksau. But when we consider their posterity, we can un- 
derstand what God meant. In the first place, we must bear in 
mind that Ksau was called Kdom. As proof of this read Gen., 
25:30: "And Ksau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with 
that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name 
called Kdom." Also, see Gen. 36:1: "Now these are the gen- 
erations of Ksau, who is Kdom." Also, understand that the 
land that Ksau settled was called Kdom after him. Now comes 
the proof that Ksau's posterity did serve Jacob's posterity. 
"And he put garrisons in Kdom (in the country that Kdom, or 
Ksau, settled) throughout all Kdom put he garrisons, and all 
they of Kdom became David's (David descendant of Jacob) ser- 
vants. 2 Sam. 8:14. The above is so plain that it needs no 
further explanation. And this prepares the way for the explan- 
ation of God's hating Ksau and loving Jacob. Paul said in 
Rom. 9:73: "As it is written Jacob have I loved, but Ksau have 
I hated." The first thing necessary, in this case, is to find out 
who wrote this, and by examination we find that Paul is quot- 
ing from Malachi, who penned this language, more than a 
thousand years after Ksau and Jacob were dead. God was up- 
braiding the Israelites, through Malachi, for their corruption, 
as follows: "The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by 
Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. But ye say, 
wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Ksau Jacob's brother, 
saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob and I hated Ksau, and I laid 
his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the 
wilderness. Whereas Kdom saith, we are impoverished, but we 
will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord 
of hosts. They shall build, but I will throw down; and they 
shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against 
whom the Lord hath indignation forever." This is very clear 
that it was not Ksau that God hated as an individual, nor Jacob 
that He loved as an individual; but He hated the wickedness of 
the Knanites, or Kdomites, who were haters of the Jacobites or 
Israelites, and He loved the Jacobites because of their faith in 
Him and because His Son should be born into the world through 
a chosen lineage of the Jacobites, or Israelites, and because they 
honored God. "They that honor me I will honor, but they that 
despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Jacob honored God, and 
God honored Jacob. Ksau despised God, and was lightly es- 
teemed by God. 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. Ill 

Further proof may be found in Obadiah, 8-10: "Shall I not 
in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of 
Edom, and understanding- out of the Mount of Esau? And 
thy might} 7 men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that 
every one of the Mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. 
For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover 
thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever.'' You see in the above 
sentence, God addresses the Esauites as an individual and re- 
fers to the Jacobites as an individual. These passages will sat- 
isfy any reasonable person that it was not Esau that God hated, 
but that it was the wickedness of his descendents. "For thy 
violence ag-ainst thy brother." By reading- the Scriptures, you 
will see that Esau as an individual never committed any vio- 
lence ag-ainst Jacob, but that his posterity did commit violence 
ag-ainst the Jacobites, or Israelites. 

It is very clear that God did Esau no injustice. Notwithstand- 
ing- his hatred of God and of God's people, he was wonderfully 
prospered in temporal thing-s, and if he were not saved, it was 
because of his own rebellious, unbelieving heart, for Christ 
tasted death for every man. But I verily believe that Esau is 
to-day in the Paradise of God. I believe that he was converted 
in answer to Jacob's prayer, when he prayed all nig-ht. See 
Esau come out to meet Jacob with four hundred men, to kill 
him. Wiry does he not do it? He had, doubtless, intended it for 
many years. But now he has repented and his hard heart has 
been softened, and, instead of making- for Jacob with a weapon, 
he runs and embraces him and rejoices, and from this time on 
we see nothing- in his life that would lead us to believe that he 
was not a lover of the Lord, but much to lead us to believe that 
he was converted. The Nicolaitans regard this Esau and Ja- 
cob matter as their strong-hold, and the main lever they use 
in lifting their sins from their own shoulders, and heaving 
them over upon God. This is very abominable in the sight of 
God. I will quote a few passages to show the contrast between 
the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and the doctrine of the Bible. 
"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every se- 
cret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Ecc. 
12:14. "But, after thy hardness, and impenitent heart treas- 
ured up unto thyself wrath against the great day of wrath and 
revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render 
to every man according to his deeds?" Rom. 2:5-6. "But I 
say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they 
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Mat. 12:36. 
Similar passages may be found by referring to Mat. 16:27; 1 
Cor. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:10; Mat. 25:31-46; Isa. 28:17. Now, reader, 
look honestly at the difference. The Nicolaitans say that God 
makes man to do whatever he does, and that he can only do 
what God makes him do. The Bible says that God will bring 
us into judgment for every idle word and reward us according 



112 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

to what we do. Remarks are unnecessary here. The Bible 
plainly shows that the doctrines of the Nicolaitans are false 
and hateful to God. I will here expose an error over which 
many stumble. You remember I have proven to you that the 
translators of the Bible sometimes misplaced words, and even 
whole verses, and Acts 13:48 is unquestionably one of those 
cases, as it does not harmonize with the balance of the Bible the 
way it stands. But place it as follows, and it is all right: "And 
as many as believed were ordained to eternal life." Reasons for 
believing" these words misplaced: Remember that the Gentiles 
were referred to in this verse, and it is not intimated anywhere 
in the Bible that any Gentiles were ordained to eternal 
life. None except the one hundred and forty-four thous- 
and were ordained, to eternal life from the beginning-, 
and they were all Jews. But eternal life is promised pos- 
itively, without any ifs or ands about it, to everyone 
that will believe. Nothing- could be clearer than this. There- 
fore, everyone that believes is ordained to eternal life, thoug-h 
they are not ordained till they do believe; for "He that believeth 
not shall be damned." "For God so loved the world that He 
g-ave His only beg-otten Son that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting- life." Jno. 3:16. The 
above verse harmonizes with my arrang-ement of the words in 
the clause under question; but quote it to harmonize with the ar- 
rang-ement of the translators, and see how it looks. "For God 
so loved the world that He g-ave His only beg-otten Son that 
whosover were ordained to eternal life should not perish." This 
makes capital nonsense. It teaches a false doctrine. It teaches 
that salvation hinges upon the ordination of God, and that 
everyone that is ordained is forced to believe in order to be 
saved. This theory makes man as a mere inanimate being-, like 
a stone, or a stock, which is wholly subject to the will-power 
and skill of man, to mould it into any shape that happens to 
suit his taste or fancy. This is fine Nicolaitan doctrine — shifts 
the whole responsibility of man's being- saved off upon God. If 
this theory werecorrect, everyone would be saved, for God wills 
the salvation of all. 1 Tim. 2:4. "Not willing- that any should 
perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Pet. 3:9. 
"For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the 
Lord God. Wherefore turn yourselves and live ye." Kzk. 
18:32. These and similar passag-es clearly show that God wills 
the salvation of everyone, yet we see that all will not be 
saved. Mat. 7:23; 25:41. Luke 13:26-27. Then is it not clear 
that salvation is not procured by ordination, but ordination is 
procured by salvation? No man is rig-htfully ordained to the 
Gospel ministry until the church and presbytery have satisfac- 
tory evidence that he has repented, believed, washed in Christ's 
blood, and called to this great work; then, and not till then, is 
he ordained. And no Gentile is ordained of God until he has 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 113 

yielded to the Holy Spirit, repented, believed, washed in the 
atoning- blood of Christ and been adopted into the family of 
God. Then, and not till then, is any Gentile ordained of God 
to everlasting' life. This line of Bible thought throws some of 
the responsibilit}' of man's salvation upon man, and makes him 
an accountable being*. 

Once a brother in Mississippi asked me how the elect were 
saved. I replied, "Just like other people, by the grace of God; 
that all people were conceived in sin, and brought forth in 
iniquity; that all of the Adamic family inherited the disease 
of sin from our first parents; and that there was only one rem- 
edy and that remedy was the grace of God, bestowed in mercy 
in consideration of the righteousness of Christ, through the 
channel of faith." Bro. : "If the elect had not believed wouldn't 
they have been saved by election?" "No, Sir, for they would 
not have been fit subjects for Heaven, for Heaven is a place of 
perfect purity and holiness, and the unbelieving elect would be 
filthy sinners. But what you say is a wild supposition, for God 
knew the people that he elected before he elected them; he knew 
they would be good people, and well connected in their family 
lineage; he knew that they would honor Christ; therefore he 
elected them. 'Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's 
sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ 
Jesus with eternal glory.' 2 Tim. 2:10. You see from these 
Scriptures that Paul had an earnest desire for the elect to ob- 
tain that salvation which was in Christ Jesus, with eternal life. 
God, before the foundation of the world, raised his head and 
looked away over through the long vista of the future and saw 
people that were not, as though they were. In this light, at 
that time, he saw Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve sons 
of Jacob; and he examined them closely; He looked into their 
hearts, and into the hearts and minds of their decendants, and 
then and there He saw that they were a good people, and that 
they would honor Him. and His Son. He knew that they would 
yield to the wooing of the Holy Spirit; that they would believe 
on the onl} r .begotten Son of God. Therefore, whom He fore- 
knew He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, 
that He might be the first born among the brethren. Moreover, 
whom He did predestinate, them He also called. This choosing 
and predestinating was done away back, but the calling was 
done after the chosen were born, and grown to the age to know 
good from evil in this world, and had ears to hear; then they 
heard the call and came to Christ, and He bestowed His right- 
eousness upon them; then God justified them through Christ's 
righteousness; then He glorified them in Christ. 'Elect accord- 
ing to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctifi- 
cation of the Spirit, unto obedience, and the sprinkling of the 
blood of Jesus Christ.' 1 Pet. 1:2. The power by which God 
elected, away back, was foreknowledge; He knew who would 



114 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

accept, etc." Bro.: "There is but little difference in our views 
on election." Reply: "I think after you study the subject as 
long- and as close and as prayerfully as I have there will be no 
difference." Bro.: "How do you explain Rom. 11:7? 'What 
then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but 
the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.'" Re- 
ply: 'Israel failed to obtain what was sought because it was 
sought by works." "But Israel which followed after the law of 
righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 
Wherefore? Because they soug-ht it not by faith, but as it were 
by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumb Sing- 
stone. As it is written, 'Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling- 
stone and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall 
not be ashamed.' Rom. 9:31-33. Now you see, brother, that 
Israel clung- to his own works, the works of the law, arid ex- 
pected by obedience to the law, to obtain justification. They 
stumbled at that stumbling- stone. They made a woeful, soul 
destroying- mistake; just such a mistake as all make, who expect 
to be saved by their own g-ood works. God electing" others had 
no influence over them. They were g-uided by their own vain 
thoug-hts and stubborn wills. They were proud, high headed 
and self-righteous sinners- Neither were those who were 
elected guided or influenced in any way by their election. They 
did just what they would have done if they had not been elected. 
They had no knowledge of their election until converted. They 
were not elected that they might be saved thereby, consequently 
their election had no influence over them. They were elected 
because God knew them, and knew that they would humble them- 
selves, and yield to the influence of the Spirit, and not stumble 
at that stumbling stone, but love Jesus, and be faithful co-la- 
borers with Him, in toiling for the salvation of a lost world. 
God makes no mistakes; He knew what He was doing when He 
elected them in grace. It is very clear that when Paul said in 
this verse (Rom. 11:7), 'The election hath obtained it, '.that he 
meant the elect have obtained it, using elect here just in the 
same way that he uses uncircumcession in Rom. 3:26. In this 
passage he says: 'Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the 
righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted 
for circumcision. ' It is plain enough in this passage that he means 
"If the uncircumcised keep the righteousness," etc. In like manner 
he uses election in Rom. 11:7. The main body of the Israelites be- 
cause of their blindness and unbelief did not obtain what they 
sought — salvation — because, as we have said, they sought it by 
their good works, 'but the elect have obtained it,' meaning by 
this the part of Israel that accepted Christ. Those whom God 
knew, before the foundation of the world, would accept him. 
As we have said, those whom God saw would be suitable co- 
laborers with God. 'And the rest were blinded.' (1) Blinded 
by their own sin and prejudice; (2) by. the just judgment of God, 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. US 

leaving - them to their own ignorance, and obstinacy for shutting 
their eyes against the clear light of the Gospel, and hy giving 
them over to Satan, who blindeth the eyes of them that believe 
not. 2 Cor. 4:4. This is the case with the chief body of the 
Jews to-day; they have eyes, but see not, and ears, but hear not. 
It is absurd and wicked to charge God with the whole of the 
blindness and wickedness of these Jews. God plainly tells us 
why they were rejected. 'Because of unbelief they were broken 
off.' Rom. 11:20. Hence, it is clear that their own unbelief led 
to their utter blindness. 

"People are bothered over the above Scriptures just as they 
are about what is written of Pharoah. What is said regarding 
these blinded Jews is true of Pharoah. His own unbelieving- 
heart brought his destruction. Had he repented and believed on 
God, even at the late hour when God manifested his marvelous 
power he would have been saved. But he persisted in the fig-lit 
ag-ainst God. You say, 'God said he would harden Pharoah's 
heart.' If we say God infused evil into Pharoah's heart this 
would make Him the author of sin. And you know it is written 
that, 'He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and cannot 
look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.' God only 
hardened Pharoah's heart judicially; that is, made him as a 
king, decide and rule as he did' concerning- the giving- up of the 
Israelites. Remember that he was a very wicked king-; he had 
sorely oppressed God's people; he had put to death their male 
children as they were born into the world, and God had declared 
that the seed of Abraham should be blessed, muitiplied, etc. 
God had indignation ag-ainst his wicked works just as he had 
against the Edomites. Mai. 1:4. Pharoah's own unbelief, 
wickedness and hardening of his own heart was what doomed 
him to eternal destruction. The hardening attributed to God 
had nothing to do with his being eternally lost, or eternally 
saved. You sa}% "But it is written, 'For the Scripture saith 
unto Pharoah, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, 
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might 
be declared throughout all the earth.' " 

In the original "Raised thee up" reads, "made thee stand." 
You will find it that way in the margin of your reference Bible. 
Ex. 9:16. Made Pharoah stand firm, as a king, in his decision 
regarding the giving up of Israel. Pharoah and his hosts be- 
ing out of all reach of salvation, God caused him to thus stand 
firm that the power and glory of God might be manifested to all 
the nations of the earth, through his rebellion against God. 
You ask, "Don't God say, 'Hath he mercy on whom he will 
have mercy, and whom he will be' hardeneth?' "etc. Yes, and 
God always wills to have mercy on those who desire mercy, 
those who feel the need of mercy. "A bruised reed will he not 
break, and the smoking flax will he not quench." Mat. 12:20. 
Qod wills to have mercy on the poor in spirit, the mourner, the 



116 SUFFERINGS OF THE -ELECT. 

meek, the merciful, etc. "And whom he will he hardeneth." 
Those who rebell against him. Those who love darkness rather 
than light because their deeds are evil; those who are haters 
and rejectors of the lig-ht. 

Those who will not come to the lig-ht lest their deeds should 
be reproved. "My Spirit shall not alwa}-s strive with man." 
This is what God said when the antediluvians of old resisted 
His Spirit and continued in their fearful wickedness. God's 
Spirit strives with the worst of sinners, but when they resist 
Him and persist in their own wicked ways, He withdraws His 
Spirit and gives them over to blindness and hardness of heart. 
Paul anticipates that when these Romans hear this they will 
ask, "Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His 
will? If He does just what He pleases with everybody, makes 
them good or bad as He chooses, why should He find fault with 
His own work?" Paul does not stop to explain to them, though 
if he had he should have reminded them of the many passages 
of Scripture teaching that man is a free moral agent, left to 
choose and act for himself, and that God was always well 
pleased when man did right, and always frowned upon man's 
wrongdoing. Paul just cut the matter short and said, "Nay, 
but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the 
thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made 
me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same 
lump, to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dis- 
honor?" As Paul did not give the Romans a chance to answer 
his questions, and did not answer them himself, we will answer 
for them: The first to reply against God are those who have 
been taught by the 'Nicolaitans that God does it all, good and 
bad; that man is nothing but a stone jug, to hold whatever God 
puts in him; if God fills him with wickedness, and corks him, 
and places a seal on him, he must go to judgement full of sin, 
for no one but God can loose the seal that is on the cork, in the 
mouth of the jug. And when Gabriel sounds the trumpet the 
holy angels will be seen gathering up the jugs and marching up 
to the bar of God with them; and when a jug is handed to God 
he will break the seal, take out the cork, and put the mouth of 
the jug to his nose, and will say, "I smell sin; cast him into the 
lake of fire." Then another jug will be handed to the judge of 
all the earth; he will smell it and say, "O this is full of right- 
eousness that I filled this jug with before the foundation of the 
world ! Place him high up in Heaven. " I don't blame God for hating 
the doctrines of the Nicolaitans. Answer to the second ques- 
tion: God has power to do anything that he chooses to do; but 
he never chooses to do an} T thing that is wrong. He invariably 
deals with his subjects according to what they deserve, according 
to their conduct toward Him. As proof of this I will quote Jer., 
18:1-11: "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, 
saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will 



M r FFERING$ OF THE ELECT. 117 

cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's 
house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the 
vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: 
so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter 
to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O 
house of Israel, cannot I do with you as the potter? saith the 
Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in 
mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak 
concerning- a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, 
and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom 
I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil 
that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall 
speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build 
and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my 
voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would 
benefit them. Now therefore, go to speak to the men of Judah, 
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the 
Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device 
against you; return ye now every one from his evil way and 
make your ways and your doings good." This makes it so plain 
that further comment is hardly necessar}^. God's word inter- 
prets itself. This passage substantiates the idea that God 
deals with his creatures according to their conduct toward him. 
We are in his hands, even as the clay is in the hands of the 
potter; yet he alwa} T s deals with us according to what we de- 
serve. "Them that honor me I will honor, and they that de- 
spise me shall be lightly esteemed." 1 Sam'l 2:30. If we obey 
God and honor Him He will make us vessels unto honor; but if 
we disobey Him and dishonor Him He will make us vessels unto 
dishonor. 

The one hundred and forty-four thousand were elected be- 
fore the foundation of the world, for purposes before mentioned 
and explained. But since the world has been peopled, we are 
elected, and added to the elect, and our names written in the 
Lamb's Book of Life when we believe. On the day of Pentecost 
three thousand were added. These were they that gladly re- 
ceived the Word, and were added the same day. Acts 2:41. 
And all that believed were together, working wonders, praising 
God and getting in favor with the people, and having a great re- 
vival. "And the Lord added to the church daily the saved." 
Acts 2:47. "And b} T the hands of the Apostles were man} T 
signs and wonders wrought among the people, and they were all 
with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no 
man join himself to them; but the people magnified them, and 
believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes of both 
men and women. Acts 5:12-14. "Now, they which were scat- 
tered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, 
traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching 
the Word to none, but unto the Jews only. And some of them 



118 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

were men of Cyprus, and Cyrene, which, when they were come 
to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching- the Lord Jesus. 
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number 
believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these 
thing-s came unto the ears of the church, which was in Jerusa- 
lem, and they sent forth Barnabus, that he should go as far as 
Antioch; who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, 
was glad, and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they 
cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the 
Holy Ghost, and of faith, and much people was added unto the 
Lord." Acts 11:19-24. From the Scripture quoted we find that 
there were four grand revivals. First, on the day of penticost, 
under the preaching of Peter, when the Holy Spirit was poured 
out upon them, sinners were convinced, and cried out in the earn- 
estness of their hearts to know what they must do. Peter re- 
plied to the whole multitude (as soon as the news went out that 
the Christians were having a great time, the people flocked 
there in great numbers, among whom were Parthians, Medes, 
Klamites, and the dwellers in Mesipotatamia, and in Judea, and 
Capadocia, in Pantus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphilin, in 
Egypt and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of 
Rome, Jews and proselytes), repent, everyone of you, and be 
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. From the 
above expression of Scripture, some may think that we have to be 
baptized to have our sins remitted. I answer, no; for Christ 
says, "He that believeth is not condemned." Then, if we are 
not condemned when we believe, our sins are remitted prior to 
baptism. Again, it is written, "This is my blood of the New 
Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." 
Mat. 26:28. And yet again: "The blood of Jesus Christ, His 
Son, cleansethus from all sin." Jno. 1:7. If the blood cleanseth 
from ali, sin, how much is left for the water to wash away? 
However, don't think that I depreciate baptism. But I will not 
stop to dwell on that in this place. As Peter stood preaching, 
great numbers of that mixed multitude of all nations, and of all 
countries, decided that he meant them, from his language, 
"Everyone of you," and they went to repenting and believing. 
And they that gladly received the Word were baptized, and the 
same day were added to them about three thousand souls. This 
was a short revival, but one of great power, and had a wonderful 
effect. Three thousand souls saved, that were going the down- 
ward road to hell, and added to the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand that were elected before the foundation of the world, 
and their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, to- 
gether with the names of the elect. "For as many as believed 
were ordained to eternal life." So, then, the one hundred and 
forty-four thousand were increased to one hundred and forty- 
seven thousand in one day. The one hundred and fortv-four 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 119 

thousand and the three thousand are all elected, and all cared 
for as God's children. The only difference is in the time of elec- 
tion. The second revival followed rig'ht on after the feast, 
which was on the day of pentecost. The believers continued 
steadfast in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and breaking- 
bread, and prayers, and many sig-ns and wonders were done by 
the apostles; and all that believed were tog-ether, and had all 
thing-s common, and they continued in the temple daily, with one 
accord, and breaking- bread from house to house, and did eat 
their meat with gladness and singdeness of heart. Praising- God 
and having- favor with all the people. And the Lord added to 
the church daily such as should be saved (or the saved). Acts 
2:42-47. This w T as a pattern protracted meeting-. The apostles 
were at work, the believers were all tog-ether, all g-athered at the 
place of divine worship, and they were all in fellowship and loved 
one another. The apostles were working- sig-ns and wonders, 
carrying- out the injunction of their Lord and Master, and the 
lay members were all at their post, letting- their lig-hts shine for 
Christ, winning- souls for Him, and the Lord was there too; and 
as fast as souls were converted He added them to the church. 

Some may ask, did not the Lord save these people that He is 
now adding- to the church in eternity, before the foundation! of 
the world? I answer no, upon the ground of God's perfecton. 
He never makes any mistakes; He never puts up any botch jobs; 
He never leaves anything- half done. When He saves a man he 
is saved forever. And if God saved those people in the beg-in- 
ning-, and then came back here 4000 years later and put the 
apostles to preaching- and the other Christians to praying-, singl- 
ing- and letting- their lig-hts shine to constrain the same people 
to believe that they too may be added to the saved, this would 
betray an ig-norance and weakness that don't belong- to the 
character of the God that I worship. 

Third revival. And after Annanias and Sophira were de- 
stroyed, for lying- to the Holy Spirit, great fear came upon all 
the church and upon as many as heard these thing-s, and the 
apostles worked many signs and wonders, and they were all of 
one accord in Solomon's porch; and believers were the more 
added to the Lord; mag-nifying- the Lord multitudes of both 
men and women. In this meeting- great numbers of believers 
were added to the Lord, not merely added to the church but 
added to the Lord. When this meeting- beg-an this multi- 
tude of men and women were unbelievers; but by the sig-ns and 
wonders wroug-ht by the apostles; and by the consistent de- 
meanor of Christians, who were there with one accord, speak- 
ing- the same thing-s, and seeing- eye to eye, bearing- testimony 
for Jesus, and letting- their lig-hts so shine that others seeing- 
their g-ood works were constrained to believe, and therefore 
they were added unto the Lord: and if added to the Lord they 
were adopted into the family of God and made heirs of God, 



120 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. These are a part of 
the people that Christ prayed for in the. 17th chapter of John, 
when He said to His Father, "Neither pray I for these alone, 
but for them also which shall believe on me through their 
word." 

We now come to the fourth Scriptural revival, which lasted a 
year. The brethren at Jeruselem sent Barnabus, who was a 
good man, and full of the Holy Spirit, and of faith, to Antioch 
to preach to the heathen, and when he arrived there and saw 
the grace of God he was glad, and exhorted the people all that 
with purpose of heart they cleave to the Lord; and much people 
was added to the Lord. Here we see more of these people 
whom Christ prayed for, Jno., 17:20, added. And his prayer 
evidently embraced every one who has been, or ever will 
be added unto the Lord. And every one that ever has be- 
lieved, or ever will believe in Christ, has been and will be 
added to the Lord. And every one that ever has or ever 
will be added to the Lord has been and will be elected, 
for God's elect are those that He chooses to save; and He 
chooses to save every one of Adam's posterity who will be- 
lieve. 

In Kphesians, first chapter, Paul evidently addressed two 
classes of Christians, those whom God had chosen, elected and 
predestinated in the beginning - , and those who had afterward 
heard the word and believed and were sealed with the Holy 
Spirit of promise. Let us analyze the chapter: ''Paul, an 
apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which 
are at Kphesus." This last clause is complete without any ad- 
ditional words. ''To the saints which are at Kphesus." He 
means that there are saints at Kphesus, whom he addresses, 
and it also implies that there are saints elsewhere; but now 
comes another clause after the comma. "And to the faithful in 
Christ Jesus." This is another class of people, some more fol- 
lowers of Christ that Paul addresses his epistle to. The comma 
and the conjunction show that the saints at Kphesus and the 
faithful in Christ Jesus are different people. Paul was a scholar 
and an inspired man, and wrote as he was moved by the Holy 
Spirit; hence it is reasonable to conclude that he used as few 
words as convenient to express an idea so that it could be un- 
derstood. Therefore, if he had been addressing- saints, and 
saints only, he would have said, To the faithful saints in Christ 
Jesus at Kphesus. You see if he meant only one people, the 
idea is plainly and forcibly expressed with nine words. Now 
take it the other way and express two people: "To the saints 
which are at Kphesus, and to the faithful- in Christ Jesus." 
Fourteen words. In the second verse Paul commands the grace 
and peace of God to both parties of the brethren; and in the 
third verse he blesses God for spiritual blessings in Heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus, and in the fourth verse he addresses the 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 121 

saints (the chosen of God, the elect) and considers himself among- 
the number; uses the pronouns we and us, as follows: "Ac- 
cording" as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of 
the world, that we should be holy and without blame before 
Him in love." Notice here the object of God's choosing-; it was 
not a mere random choosing-, as some suppose; merely to save 
them, whether g-ood or bad; but God says, "That we should be 
holy and without blame before Him in love." Fifth verse: 
''Having- predestinated us (Paul and the other saints) unto the 
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according- to the 
g-ood pleasure of His will." For God's pleasure is with holiness 
and rig-hteousness, and his indig-nation is ever ag-ainst the 
wicked. Sixth verse: "To the praise of the glory of His 
grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." No- 
tice that us, meaning- Paul and the other saints. Seventh 
verse: "In whom we (Paul and the saints) have redemption 
throug-h His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according- to the 
riches of His grace," Eig"hth verse: "Wherein He hath 
abounded toward us (Paul and the rest of the elect, or saints) 
in all wisdom and prudence." Ninth verse: "Having- made 
known unto us (Paul and the saints) the mystery of His will, 
according- to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in 
Himself." Tenth verse: "That in the dispensation of the full- 
ness of times he mig-ht g-ather tog-ether all thing's in one in 
Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are in earth, even 
in Him." Eleventh verse: "In whom WE also have obtained 
an inheritance, being- predestinated according- to the purpose of 
Him who worketh all thing's after the council of His own will." 
Twelfth verse: "That we should be to the praise of His glory 
who first trusted in Christ.'" Notice, Paul says in this verse we 
who first trusted Christ. This implies that there were others 
who trusted Christ, and that he and the other saints were first 
fruits unto God; and if there were first fruits there were unques- 
tionably second fruits. Down to the thirteenth verse in this 
chapter we find that Paul addressed the saints (the elect, him- 
self included), and only them. Notice the expressions — blessed 
us, chosen us, predestinated us, made us accepted, etc., and in 
whom we have redemption, in whom we have obtained an in- 
heritance, etc. But mark the chang-e in the thirteenth verse. 
Paul here addresses the faithful in Christ Jesus. In whom ye 
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel 
of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were 
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Is it not clear that 
Paul now addresses another class of people, Ye faithful in 
Christ Jesus. Those who were added after they heard the Gos- 
pel, believed and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 
And hear Paul talking- to these same people in the same dis- 
course in the latter part of the second chapter, commencing- with 
the twelfth verse. "That at that time ye were without Christ, 



122 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

being- aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers 
from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God 
in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were 
far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our 
peace, who hath made both one, and who hath broken down the 
middle wall of partition between us. Having- abolished in his 
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in 
ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so 
making - peace. And that he mig-ht reconcile both unto God in 
one body by the cross, having- slain the enmity thereby; and came 
and preached peace unto you, which were afar off, and to them 
that were nig-h. For throug-h him we both have access by one 
Spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, ye are no more stran- 
g-ers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of 
the household of God. And built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being- the chief cor- 
ner stone, in whom all the building- fitly framed tog-ether grow- 
eth unto a holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are 
builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." It 
has been suggested that these two classes represent the Jews 
and Gentiles; but to say that the saints represent all the Jewish 
nation will not do, for all the Jews are not saints, for they re- 
ceived not Christ as a people, and thousands of them are to-day 
Christ haters; and the Gentiles could not represent the faithful 
in Christ, for there are millions of them to-day who are haters 
of Christ. And the only way that I can understand this is that 
the saints are the one hundred and forty-four thousand, chosen 
as a kind of first fruits, and the faithful in Christ Jesus are 
those who have been added after they believed. Those for 
whom Christ prayed. Jno. 17:20. 

It may be asked if the saints were Jews how came them in 
these heathen towns. It seems that God in his wisdom made a 
fair distribution of his saints, his elect, his chosen helps, some 
at Kphesus, some at Rome, some at Corinth, and at other heathen 
towns. God had his chosen standard bearers, planted at the 
right places to arise at the right time, and put on the armor of 
God, and join the Lord in the battle for the conquest of the 
world for Christ. Paul tells us something about finding or 
choosing some of the saints from the Gentiles; this is not sur- 
prising when we consider that the Jews were scattered among 
the Gentiles in many places. "Will he go unto the dispersed 
among the Gentiles?" John 7:35. Paul was a Jew by blood, 
but by law he was a Roman, a Gentile. He found a great num- 
ber of Jews in Rome. Acts 28:23. "To the general assembly 
and the church of the first born, which are written in Heaven, 
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
perfect. Heb. 12:23. 

"Church of the first born, which are written in Heaven," 
meaning the elect, the first fruits, the one hundred and forty- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 123 

four thousand.' 1 "Spirits of just men made perfect," meaning 
those who have heard and believed the Gospel, and made per- 
fect by the righteousness of Christ, then added to the Lord, and 
to the church of the first born, then the first born and the sec- 
ond born are all one in Christ. The church of the first born is 
of the Jews. The first fruits unto God and the Lamb are of the 
Jews. kk And thou shalt say unto Pharoah, Thus saith the 
Lord, Israel is my son, even my first born." Ex. 4:22. "When 
Israel was a child then I loved him, and called my son out of 
Egypt." Hos. 11:1. "Out of Egypt have I called my son," 
Mat. 2:15. For I could wish that myself were accursed from 
Christ for my brethren, my kinsman, according- to the flesh, 
who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the 
glor}^ and the covenants and the giving of the law, and the ser- 
vices of God and the promises? Whose are the fathers, and of 
whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, 
God blessed for ever. Amen." Rom. 9:3-5. These Scriptures 
confirm the idea that God's original elect, the saints, were all 
taken out of the twelve tribes of Israel, or Jacob. And there is 
not a single expression in all the book of God that would au- 
thorize any one to believe that a single one of Esau's posterity 
was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world; but a 
grand array of Scriptures to show that millions of them have 
been addled in time, and made fellow citizens together with the 
saints. 

As I close this line of thought, I ask you to take } x our Bible 
and read carefully for yourself the seventh chaper of Revelation 
and seventeen chapter of John, which passages confirm the doc- 
trine that I have presented all the way through this book. 

Now, in conclusion, in order to throw more light on the sub- 
ject under consideration, I will briefly portray God's dealing 
with man from Adam to the present. God placed our first par- 
ents in a beautiful garden, surrounded by everything that was 
nncessary to make them happy. Man being endowed with in- 
telect, and being made a free moral agent, he was left subject 
to temptation. He yielded to the temptation of the old serpent, 
and willfully disobeyed God. The God who cannot lie was com- 
pelled to comply with His word. Man was driven from the 
garden and guards were placed at the east of the garden to keep 
the wa} T of the tree of life. The earth was cursed, was made to 
bring forth thorns, thistles, etc., and man was forced to earn 
his living by the sweat of his face. Yet God pitied Adam and 
Eve. He took skins of animals and clothed them. He also 
promised them the Messiah, the seed of the woman. Gen. 3:15. 
And gives them another law which prepares the way for the 
coming of this Messiah, this Saviour; of whom it is written, 
"God so loved the world," etc. 

When their children, Cain and Abel, became men, we see 
that they brought offerings to the Lord. Cain's was rejected. 



124 SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

but Abel's accepted. You see from God's words to Cain that 
his heart was not right toward God; then doubtless he brought 
a sacrifice that had not been commanded of God (the fruit of 
the ground), while on the other hand Abel's heart was right 
with God, and he was carrying- out the commandment of God. 
He oifered the firstling-s of his nook. We see that the patri- 
archs and others sacrificed animals, whose blood pointed to the 
blood of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world; 
and the Bible does not tell us when or where man was com- 
manded to do this; hence we conclude that when God promised 
the seed of the woman that He at this same time instructed 
Adam to sacrifice animals. Notice Adam and Eve did not eat 
animals, yet God took the skins of animals and made them 
clothes. No doubt but that the animals from which these skins 
were taken were offered as a sacrifice to God. This being true, 
Abel was doing- that that was well pleasing- in the sig-ht of God, 
while Cain was carrying- out his own way of thinking and his 
service was only an outward pretended service unto the Lord. 
Cain slew Abel, for which God punished him severely, yet 
showed his compassion toward him. 

In Noah's day the children of God's chosen families inter- 
married with the corrupt unbelieving- families of the earth; and 
the people of the world became so wicked that God determined 
to destroy them, and put an end to their wickedness. He said, 
"My Spirit shall not always strive with man." We see by this 
expression that His Spirit had striven with the people, but they 
had resisted and rejected it. But God sees Noah, who is aright- 
eous man, and whose family had not married into the forbidden 
families; hence He determines to save him and his family. 
Here we see that God saved those who yielded to His Spirit 
(Noah and famih ),'but destroyed those who resisted His Spirit 
(the balance of the world). 

Abraham was a g-ood man. God thorough!} 7 tested him. His 
faith was imputed to him for rig-hteousness. God wonderfully 
blessed him, and blessed all nations of the world in his seed 
(Christ). Isaac, Abraham's son, was a g-ood man, and he was 
greatly blessed of God. Jacob, Isaac's son was a good man, yet 
he had a good deal of the bad in him, that had to be overcome 
by the grace of God. He took advantage of Esau, and cheated 
him out of his birthright; and then under the advice of his par- 
tial and dishonest mother, robbed him of his blessing. But 
mark how that God permitted others to deceive him and pay 
him back for his wickedness. "Whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap." When Jacob went to Pandanaram he was 
soon in love with Rachel, and agreed with Laban, her father, to 
work seven years for her. The seven years expired. Jacob had 
worked willingly, and looked forward anxiously to this time 
when he could call the beautiful Rachel his own. Laban gave 
a feast, and invited the neighbors to the wedding, and I sup- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE ELECT. 125 

pose they had a grand time, but owing- to the custom in that 
country Laban was enabled to deceive Jacob, and presented ten- 
der eyed Leah to him instead of the beautiful Rachel. Jacob is 
now the happiest man on earth. How he lay and thought of 
her beautiful brown eyes — yes, doubtless he thoug-ht she w as 
the prettiest and sweetest woman on earth, and no doubt that 
it was well fixed in his happy heart and mind how that those 
beautiful, charming eyes would look lovingly into his when day- 
light should appear. But alas! how shocking-, how unbearable 
it was when he found that he had been rejoicing all the night 
over tender eyed Leah. 

He, no doubt, mourned and sighed. "Lost Rachel, after pay- 
ing seven years labor for her! My soul is wrapt up in her; but 
instead of my darling Rachel, this tender-eyed Leah is to cling 
to my skirts forever." He had to work seven years more to get 
Rachel. Many other instances could be given showing how 
that Jacob was punished for his wrong-doings. Remember, he 
tells Laban that he had changed his wages ten times; remember 
also, that his eleven sons came to him with a falsehood con- 
cerning Joseph. Other people may do wrong, and their punish- 
ment be reserved for the next world, but God chastises his chil- 
dren on earth for their evil doings. 

Joseph, Jacob's son, was a good man and honored God, and 
God honored him. He was a type of Christ. Joseph was tempted 
and tried, so was Christ. Joseph was sold for silver, so was 
Christ; Joseph was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, 
so was Christ; Joseph was imprisoned for the offense of another, 
Christ was a prisoner for our offenses. Joseph was hated and 
despised by his brethren, Christ was despised and hated bv those 
who shoutd have loved Him. Joseph, the just, suffered for the 
unjust; Christ, the just, suffered for the unjust. Joseph provided 
provision for his brethren, so did Christ. Joseph triumphed at 
last, so did Jesus. 

The next great man of God's elect that we would mention is 
David. He was a great and good man, and was honored by 
God; yet he did some wicked things, and, like Jacob, was pun- 
ished accordingly. 

Lot was a man of God, and God saved him, while the wicked 
of Sodom and Gomorroh perished; yet he lost his wife and some 
of his daughters, no doubt, because he had not lived up to 
his whole duty; perhaps had thought too much of worldly 
things." When the great city of Ninevah became very wicked 
God commanded Jonah to cry: "Yet forty days and Ninevah, 
shall be overthrown!" Jonah feared and tried to run from God 
and duty, but after God had severely punished him in the great 
deep he, like a subdued child, was willing to go. The Nine- 
ites heard his message and repented, hence our loving Heavenly 
Father did not destroy them. Daniel honored God, and God 
honored Daniel. 



126 SUITERINGS OF THE ELECT. 

Shadrac, Meshac, and Abednego honored God, and God. hon- 
ored them. Moses and Aaron honored God, and God. honored 
them. Moses and Aaron sinned, and. God. punished them. The 
prophets and apostles honored God, and God honored them. 
Lazarus, Martha and Mary honored Christ, and He honored, 
them. God declares, "Them that honor me I will honor, and 
they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Sam. 2:30. 
God is without variableness or shadow of turning-. Christ is 
the same yesterday, to-day and forever. God's dealing's with 
mankind from the creation to the present have been just. Then, 
He is a just God. He carries an equal and an even balance. In 
all His dealing's* with man, we find Him dealing- with each one 
according- to what he justly deserves. He has ever smiled upon 
those who have done good, and frowned upon those who have 
done evil. He is a God of long- suffering-, and full of tender 
merc}^. Follow Him forty years throug-h the wilderness, with 
the children of Israel, led by Moses and Aaron; they would mur- 
mur, and God would bear with them; they would sin, and God 
would chastise them; they would repent, and God would forgive 
them. Sometimes their sins were very great, and took severe 
chastisement to bring- them to repentance, such as being- bitten 
by poisonous flying- serpents. But while they were undergoing 
this punishment, God in His g-oodness arrang-ed so that they 
might simply look upon a brazen serpent, and be healed and 
live. And about the time thev were worshipping- the golden 
calf, which was outrig-ht idolatry, if God had been the cranky, 
partial, sulky, bigoted, slab-sided, cross-eved, red-headed God 
that some people worship, He would have turned them all over 
to the devil forever. But He is not that kind of a God; but He 
is a God of love and mercy, and full of tender compassion. 

I love God, not because He is called God, and has great 
power and wisdom, and controls the destiny of nations, and 
holds the issue of life and death in His own hands, but I love 
Him for His purity, for His loving- kindness and tender mercies; 
for His pity and tender compassion for the weak and ig-norant. 
I love Him for His patience and long--suffering-, and forbearance 
with sinful men and women. I love Him because He is a just 
God. He deals justly with all and with all alike. I love Him 
because He is no respector of persons. He is not partial to 
any, neither is He prejudiced ag-ainst any. I love Him because 
He is a God of truth; He always says what He means, and means 
what He says. I love God because He first loved me, but I don't 
think that I should have loved Him much for that if He had 
loved no else but me, for that would have been too selfish to have 
pleased me much, for I believe in equal rights to all and special 
favors to none. I love God supremely because He "So loved the 
world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
That has the right sound, the jingle of the genuine metal. It 



SUFFERINGS OF THE EI. Ft 7. 127 

leaves out no poor soul, weeping and saying, "I wish I could be 
saved, but I cannot. I am not one of the favored elect; no pro- 
visions made for me. I am bound to be lost." Let no one talk, 
think, or surmise in any such way, for Christ tasted death for 
every man, and His blood cleanse th from all sin, and it is plainly 
taught that whosoever beliveth on Him shall not perish, but 
have everlasting life." I love Jesus because He says "Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest; take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and 
lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your soul. For my yoke 
is easy and my burden is light." Mat. 11:28-30. I love Him for 
that broad, yea, world-wide invitation: "Look unto me, and be 
ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Lastly, I love God with all 
my heart, soul, mind and strength because, when I realize that 
I was a lost sinner, and felt that anybody could be saved but 
me, but that I was without hope and without God in the world, 
and that I was at that moment sinking into a world of misery 
and ruin forever, He, that God of love and pity, saw me, and 
pitied me, and with His finger of love wrote (with indelible 
colorless ink), upon my aching, throbbing heart: "You, too, 
may be saved." The response of my soul was, "Thank God\ 
Bless the Lord! O! My soul, and all that is within me, bless 
His holy name!" 

Praise God from whom all blessing's flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below; 
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 



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